Monday, January 18, 2010

Sweet Blessings!

Okay- so in order to understand how freakin' sweet this blessing is I must first give you a little background....

So during a student's 4th year of medical school you get to spend thousands of dollars applying to and interviewing for residency spots for the upcoming year. On "Match Day" all of the students get together and open up their letters telling them where they are going to for residency. Michael applied to Orthopedics, which is a very competitive field, but we weren't too concerned about getting a good spot because Michael had an outstanding resume. Somehow or another tragedy struck and Michael did not match at all and had no where to go for residency. We had to scramble for a one year spot in General Surgery and try to apply and interview again next year. It is difficult to explain to those not in the medical field how devastating and terrifying this is- but just know that it's bad- not only because you have to settle with some make-shift intern year program and then have to interview all over again, but also because you now have a big black mark on your resume, making it harder to match the next year.

A few months after the match (or I should say our non-match) Michael decided that he didn't want to do surgery after all and was much more interested in radiology. We applied to it and he interviewed at 8 programs, with 2 more still to go...

Fast forward to the present- Just this evening the head of the Residency Selection Committee of Radiology at Washington University called Michael up to offer him a 2nd year spot because apparently someone dropped out. Of course we accepted! This is honestly the best possible thing that could have happened. It totally erases the whole 'not matching' thing and puts us back on track. No more interviewing, no more worrying about the match, no more worrying about what to do next year inbetween this intern year and the year we would have started any other radiology program. We already know and love St. Louis and still have a lot of friends there and I am so excited to go back! I missed it so much! Anyway- just wanted to share this little bit of happiness with you. Now, please excuse me- I need to go celebrate!

12 comments:

  1. WOOHOO!!! You guys are coming back!!!! I am so excited!!!! We'll be counting the days....

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  2. Wow, what an amazing blessing! Having gone through the whole med school/match/residency ourselves, I can definitely understand the whole stress over the match situation- glad you only have to go through it once! That's cool that Michael decided to do radiology- maybe the whole non-match thing was a blessing in disguise that he ended up doing what he actually really wanted to do. :) Anyway, it's so great for Michael & you, and I'm so happy you get to go back to St Louis! It's nice being in the same place for med school & residency isn't it?! Although once you are done it is crazy to think about how long you've actually lived there. :) Congrats again!

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  3. WWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! We're so excited for you guys! And maybe a little jealous you're going back to St. Louis;) Now we'll have to come visit!!!

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  4. Yeah!!!! Exactly what you wanted! I think you just had to come to Chicago to play with us!!See you tomorrow!

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  5. We are so excited for you guys (and us since we get to have you back with us)!

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  6. That is really awesome. It's amazing how Heavenly Father takes care of us. I'm so happy for you guys!!

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  7. I knew it was a good thing because Wash U has a great radiology program but I didn't know that he is now back on track. That is a BIG blessing! How awesome is that!

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  8. Yee-haw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so very happy for you!!!!!!! So very happy. Celebrate like crazy!

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  9. I was so happy when Kari told me this that I wanted to go celebrate. Congratulations! Wash U radiology lucked out.

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  10. Oh, Man! I'm so so so excited for you guys, and for us! Congratulations! What a huge blessing and relief!

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