In our society so focused on sports, entertainment and politics, it was a true wonder and joy to see what Match Day 2017 was like.  Match Day is the day that 4th year medical students at 155 medical schools in the U.S. all find out where they will do their residency.  They have a list of their top 10 programs, they apply, they interview over a few months and then wait for this one day, at noon on 17 March this year, its always the third Friday of March, the envelopes are opened.  Its quite the ceremony, live video streamed, thousands watching, and screaming and celebrating and crying too for the joy of achieving a match!  Families hugging, jumping up and down, oh and more than a few drinks passed around!  As I watched, I thought how it rivaled NFL draft day, or the academy awards, or a political race.  Family members sometimes are on stage and they open the envelope and make the announcement. One jokester opened the envelope for his girlfriend and said loudly “La-la-land”.   It was great excitement and it was a real lift to know that there is so much enthusiasm and passion for achievement in education of our medical practitioners as well as researchers.  A doctorate in medicine is an enormous achievement, and deserves celebration.    Our dear friend Dr. Roy Elias matched to his first choice on Friday.  He will be an oncology physician and will also do oncology research, and will learn throughout his residency at UT Southwestern in Dallas Tx during a three year program.

To work so hard to overcome the ruthlessness of math, science, and a new language (Latin of course, but Greek to me) of medicine, requires a passion for learning, for achievement and for a future goal of delivering a great value to society!  The community of support for medical students is critical, it seems they do learn the value of a team and they appreciate support of family, mentors, friends and co-workers.  Oh and they definitely learned how to celebrate!

Congratulations Roy and all Matchers!