Match Day has come and gone.
Whether your husband matched or not let out a big sigh of relief and pat yourself on the back because you and your husband successfully completed applying to an Oral Surgery Program and that in itself is something to be congratulated on.
Now What?
If you didn't match:
That can really stink. Partly because of all the time, money and energy you invested in applying. Don't be too discouraged because you're not the first person to not get accepted into a program, especially if its your first time applying. If you're having doubts about continuing the Oral Surgery route you should seriously consider whether its the right thing for you and your family. But really just take a few minutes because if you want another shot at Oral Surgery you have to act quick.
Immediately start looking for an Internship. There's not a one stop shop to do this. Start contacting programs you interviewed with. You have the advantage of them having met you and these places will give you the best shot at an Internship.
The good news is an Internship will open more programs for you when you reapply. As I mentioned in a previous post, some programs ONLY accept interns. Internships are much easier to come by than being fully accepted into a program. If you happen to get multiple offers for an Internship and get to choose where you go to, there are a few things you might want to keep in mind.
-Letter of recommendations. This will be key for when you reapply. If you don't intern at a program that will give you a good letter of recommendations its going to make getting accepted into a program that much more difficult.
-Consider the work load. All programs are busy but if you are at a program that is exceptionally busy it will make it that much harder to apply, interview or re-take necessary tests.
-Continue to make connections. Talk to as many people as possible. You never know what connection will lead you in the right direction.
-Prepare, prepare, prepare. If you're doing an internship you will basically be treated like a first year resident. You'll be even busier because you'll be applying to programs again. Before your internship begins talk to others and do all you can to prepare for residency life.
If you matched:
Hip hip hooray!!! You did it! Congratulations!! Take some time to celebrate!!!
Your life is about to change forever!!
You can sit and relax for a little bit because you have five months before you start. You have dental school graduation and most likely a move. Exciting things to plan for.
Your husband will most likely be contacted by the program director and talk to his program about what they expect of him. If he can get a hold of any connections for you that will be ideal. Here are some things you can ask the resident's spouse/s in your new program:
-What will your monthly net paycheck look like.
-Does anything get taken out of your paycheck (for example, my husband's program takes out money for parking, retirement, union dues etc. and you can't opt out of any of it).
-What are safe and affordable places to live.
- Does the program require that you live within a certain radius of where your husband will work? Some programs require the residents be able to make it to the hospital within 15 minutes.
-Where are good schools.
-What is the typical schedule you can expect your husband to have
-Is there any weather you'll have to adjust to, buy clothes for etc.
Also decide if you want to take a trip to find housing and what time of year is best for that. We were told nothing would even be available until the month before we were moving so we didn't take a house hunting trip until May.
Lastly I would recommend that you take the next few months to just enjoy being together. It will most likely be a difficult transition getting used to never seeing each other.
Good luck with all the future holds!!
