CASPR MATCH ANNOUNCEMENT:
the ultimate day for any medical student is to see where they match for residency. or if they match for residency.
there has been so much happening in the davidson household over the past two months. between figuring out how to take care of our little ella rose and trying to predict and plan where residency is going to take us, there is no time for the computer.
match is SO stressful.
after jumping over the hurdle of passing three sets of boards & surviving interview week, then there is match.
if you don't match, you have to wait a whole year to try again - with no job & student loan payments on a couple hundred grand. and then you enter the match pool with next year's class, trying to explain to programs why you didn't succeed in the prior year, which snowballs the shortage. basically there is a shortage of residency positions. in round numbers, about half of those 100 students who scramble this year in the US will not get a residency. there are about 500 students total trying to match. with those odds, it is imperative that the students choose the right programs in their "league" in which to pursue so that they have the best chance of being chosen by that program for an open position. each program has between one and four open spots.
this was jack's greatest question mark: what were the right programs for him? where would he be the best fit?
his number one choice, was of course, scripps mercy in san diego. the only problem for us was that it is an extremely competitive program. just a few of the reasons everyone wants it is because it's:
- on the west coast {better chance of getting a job on the west coast after residency}
- at a high powered hospital with a stellar reputation
- has an amazing residency director and team
- three of the four positions offer their third year at a kaiser {top training and networking}
- ...and let's be honest... is in san diego.
something that sweetened the deal even further for us is that jack is born and raised in san diego. all of his family is there. it's where we met and fell in love.
we basically accepted that we wouldn't get this spot because it is so sought after by the top students in the country. we figured out that the stars didn't align to be matched in washington state near my family {sob}, and the chances of him getting a place in san diego were just way too competitive to get excited about. instead of being picky & spoiled by counting on the perfect program near family in a place we wanted to live, we shifted our focus to getting the best program we could with great training - location aside. it was just three years, right?
fast forward to the morning of match. we decided to make a morning of it and head to our little pinecone cafe up the street to log in and see where we were going. of course it's like a clown car to get all of us out of the house in the morning. had to time changing & feeding ella with her morning nap, get myself ready, and her carseat & bag together...well, we finally got to the cafe at 8am {match announcements are at 8...we planned to be there a half hour earlier to get settled and connected to internet}. of course, we sit down and get no cell reception on the ipad. then our phones weren't getting bars of service either and the wifi was down. ughhhH! we were about to leave and finally we got enough cell phone bars on my iphone and logged in. our hearts were pounding in our chests. jack made me click on the match tab and there it was:
ahhhhh!!! tears of joy. jack had me log in and out a few times to make sure it wasn't a mistake. suddenly all the worries of a cross country move to a place with no network melted away. it started sinking in that jack got matched at one of the most coveted residencies in the country! we are still pinching ourselves two days later!! GOD IS SO GOOD you guys!
{family portrait right after we read the results. we were too crazy excited to get out of the house for makeup or to get dressed! ella was so excited, she fell asleep haha.}
we are going back to san diego!! ella and i will have jack's family while jack is sooo busy at the hospital. we have a church with a network of new christian moms and their babies. our third year will be at the kaiser in ontario/fontana. we will move about two hours northeast of san diego and that will be a super fun adventure, too!
we are so thankful for our supportive friends and family through this process. i'm really sad to be leaving my wa family, but i know this is God's plan for us. we did a lot of praying for His will and plan for our family and this is where He lead us. He opened doors that we thought could never be opened.
ok, ella is awake! gotta go feed my little biscuit!
