MEDICAL EDUCATION
Match-makers Coaching students to maximum match potential
BY AMY LYNN SORREL As Jorge E. Novo, MD, pre- pared for last year’s Match Day, The University of Tex- as Medical School at Hous- ton student was “quite con- fident” about his prospects for securing a residency training position in his pre- ferred specialty: otolaryn- gology (ENT).
His U.S. Medical Licens- ing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 score was well above average, and the honors student did addi- tional rotations at other institutions. His residency interviews went well. And while student affairs coun- selors at the time cau- tioned Dr. Novo and other students about applying to competitive specialties like ENT, advisors also told him his academic performance and top rankings made him an ideal candidate. “There was nothing else I could do,” he said, except wait.
new career trajectory, and submit his applications. “At that point, the match means everything: where you’re going to live, what you are going to do for the rest of your life. Then sud- denly, you have no clue, and you are making deci- sions amid that turmoil. It’s too hard to redefine your life in two hours,” he said.
Jorge E. Novo, MD, wishes he had a backup plan when he didn’t get his first-choice specialty on resident Match Day, and medical schools are searching for ways to help.
When Dr. Novo received an email from the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) saying he did not match into an ENT residency program, he was “flabbergasted with the news. It took me a while to realize it was happening. I thought, ‘Is this the right message for the right person?’ I was in complete emotional shock,” he said, as was his mentor. Nevertheless, Dr. Novo had to quickly collect himself to pre-
pare for the post-match process — the SOAP, or Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program. After the main match, he had just two hours to scan the remaining positions, decide on a
After another 48 “ex- cruciating” hours by the phone waiting for offers, Dr. Novo found out that new life would be pathol- ogy, in Chicago. Six months later, he’s enjoying his new specialty. But at the time, “It was not my first choice. I was try- ing to hold back the tears and convince myself I can do other things. Then I thought, ‘I guess I’m going to be a pathologist now.’ I definitely felt the pres- sure of, ‘Is this the right choice?’ ” Dr. Novo’s experience is becoming all too common.
Despite the success of this year’s Match Day — 94 percent of U.S. seniors matched to a first-year residency position — medical school deans in Texas and across the country remain concerned about a growing number of students who have dif- ficulty matching.
They say those numbers could add up to missed opportuni- ties in the form of physicians and medical education dollars that do not immediately end up in a workforce that is hurting for doctors of every discipline, especially in Texas, which is
September 2014 TEXAS MEDICINE 47
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JORGE E. NOVO, MD
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