Winding Down

So it is starting to sink in slowly but surely. Christmas day was the one month mark for finding out where we all will be going for the next five to six years of our lives. Man, seems like yesterday I was wondering what an Indiana pouch is? I also think back on all the late hours in the library, getting up the nerve to ask for LOR’s and franticly checking myERAS to see if anyone will actually buy me as a future urology resident.  

 I know for many the whole idea of going in to Urology may not be an old one. I think that fact that most schools don’t expose medical students to Urology until 4^th year is a shame. The schools that do you can easily be identified by their number of applicants on the interview trail. I wonder how many more students will apply or consider going in to Urology once it no longer remains as an “early match” (it’s going to happen one of these years). Of course saying that I think this year there wasn’t as much growth in the applicant pool as past years. This may be one of the reasons, along with many programs expanding, that current residents feel like applicants this year are getting more interviews than in the past. I’m not sure for the reason but I imagine like most specialties its popularity comes in waves.  

Now that I have submitted my list I feel sort of helpless. I can’t do anything else to help my chances of matching. Of course this is somewhat nice because I don’t have to worry about how I do on test or how I look on paper. Of course some will say you can still contact programs to tell them their your number 1# but I hold to the belief of telling the program 1# on my list how I feel and not telling my top 5 their all my number 1#. But I can’t blame anyone who does since this is a game and you have to do what you have to do to match. Also if you believe what some of the programs told me, that many compile their list shortly after their last interview, and there is not much that will change it. I am guessing that they are more likely to move someone down due to reasons found out after interviews than they are to move someone up because of thank you notes or phone calls.

-UMuser