You’re Lyndsay Schwab and it’s 3 a.m. on a cold Monday in February.
You’re nudged awake by Boyd Viers, your fiance who like you is a fourth-year medical student at UNMC.
He tells you he’s changed his mind. No, he still wants to marry you, but that radiology residency that you were to couples match into, he doesn’t want to do that anymore.
“Very bad things” go through your head as you think of how to respond.
Two minutes ago, your future was clear. You graduate in May, get married in Mexico and then go to Indianapolis or to the Mayo Clinic for residencies.
Now, at 3 a.m., dear Boyd has arrived with a monkey wrench.
You’re Boyd Viers and it’s 3 a.m. on a cold Monday in February.
Your soon-to-be wife sleeps in the next room but you can’t. You have something to tell her that you don’t want to say.
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Fourth-year medical students Lyndsay Schwab and Boyd Viers — who will get married in Mexico in May — took a twisty road to Thursday’s Match Day ceremony. (Andrew E. Nelson, UNMC public relations) |
Your friends were surprised you chose radiology. They pegged you for a surgeon or some other specialist that sees a lot of patients.
Now you know they were right.
Walking away from the couple’s match — which 97 percent of the time successfully pairs couples in residencies — increases the chance that you’ll spend next year away from Lyndsay.
But your gut says the match takes you from your professional passion, and that ultimately may be more divisive than a year apart.
You take a deep breath and walk into the bedroom.
You’re Lyndsay Schwab and it’s noon on Match Day — the day med students learn where they will do residencies. You just learned you’re headed to the Mayo Clinic for a radiology residency.
Before Mayo, you’ll do a preliminary year of internal medicine training at UNMC. The good news — Boyd will be at UNMC, too, for a preliminary year in surgery.
The not-so-good news. …
You’re Boyd Viers and it’s Match Day. You’re set for the next year, but your case of residency cold feet means you’ll match again in 2011. This time, you will only shoot for Mayo.
What specialty? You’ll decide later. But you will see patients.
What if you don’t match?
“Well,” you say, “we’ll take it from there.”
I was merely trying to get to UptoDate from the UNMC site and then I came across this great write up about a couple of my friends. Congrats to you both and I am very happy for you. Boyd I applaud you following your heart and Lindsay I applaud you putting up with him (only kidding)!