match day

good luck, fourth years!! an exciting time for future residents - but the decision seems so final. i know a few people really nervous about it... all the fourth year med students get to open their envelopes with their fates sealed inside, opening them all at the same exact time all around the US (1 pm eastern time).

"According to students and professors contacted by The New York Sun yesterday, location and quality of life seem to be leading factors in students' decisions on where they want to be a resident and in what field they want to specialize - as, of course, is passion for the field [do I sense sarcasm here in this last statement??].

"What we say around here is 'lifestyle,'" a graduating senior at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Stanley Frencher, said, explaining that many students were drawn to specializations like dermatology, anesthesiology, or orthopedics, where they might make more money working fewer hours, making these fields more competitive.

General surgery seemed to be a popular choice, students and professors said, especially now that medical residents are limited to 80-hour workweeks and 30-hour shifts, making it a much less grueling residency.

A graduating student at Columbia University Medical Center's College of Physicians and Surgeons, Rebekah Hofstra, said many students were also drawn this year to more arcane fields: "Right now a lot of the specialties are very appealing because people feel like they've trained for so long that they want to do something more specialized than primary care.""

not surprised, but a bit sad and more realistic/less idealistic.