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Hey everyone!

The air is full of both excitement and nerves at UMMS, especially for the M4 students. We just found out on Monday if we matched, and Friday (tomorrow) is our Match Day. This means that at exactly 12:00 noon EDT, we will be handed an envelope that contains our life for the next three-seven years. You can read more about it here and watch some tear-producing videos. Luckily, UMMS always does very well in the match process! While it is hard to predict actually how I will feel at Match Day, I imagine that it will be a combination of excitement about finding out where I am training for the next four years as an Ob/Gyn, but also sadness that my best friends and I are being separated after spending nearly every moment together over the last few years. The friendships that you develop in medical school are truly ones that will last a lifetime. No one else will understand the process of medical school and the emotions felt through each stage as well as those friends.

In just four short months, I will begin my residency training. Throughout the last month, I spent time trying to prepare for crazy journey ahead of me. Along with my 11 classmates also applying into Ob/Gyn, we embarked on a month of intensive preparation for residency in the Ob/Gyn Residency Prep Course. This month included everything from running through obstetrical emergency simulations, practicing on low-fidelity cesarean section models, and learning how billing and coding works. We showed up every day excited to learn, engaged in the lectures and hands-on learning opportunities, and a little nervous that now more than ever before we really needed to know this information if we wanted to be good doctors for our patients. We generally had a full day of learning Monday through Friday, and there was never once a moment when I thought to myself “that really isn’t useful.” It has been my favorite month of medical school and made me even more excited to begin my career as an Ob/Gyn.

Practicing how to properly consent a patient for surgery. Dr. Marzano made sure to provide us with difficult situations!

Despite all of the amazing learning opportunities, the best part of the month was how supported I felt by my fellow classmates and the Department of Ob/Gyn faculty and staff. There were a lot of tears over worries about matching and maintaining a balance in our lives outside of medical school. However, these moments were outmatched by the moments of pure joy and excitement that we would get to do this the rest of our lives. It was a good reminder that we have learned more than a few things in medical school, and that we are ready to take this next step in our training. The Residency Prep Course has provided each of us with a strong foundation and has alleviated some of those worries about the first few weeks of our intern year. We were constantly reminded throughout the month that we will always have our Michigan family. Our last day of the course consisted of a potluck dinner where we were gifted with Michigan scrub caps and words of wisdom from current Ob/Gyn residents. I know that I will be reading those every night for the next couple of months.

On behalf of the future Ob/Gyn from UMMS, thank you to Dr. Morgan, Dr. Malone, Dr. Kempner, Dr. Marzano, Dr. Skinner, Dr. Bell, Erin Price and so many others in the Department of Ob/Gyn. You each have made us better physicians and better people. We cannot thank you enough!

Kylie Steenbergh, M4 and Future Ob/Gyn