While most of the country is focused on drinking green beer for St. Patrick’s Day today, thousands of med students across the globe are holding four leaf clovers and hoping for a little bit of the luck of the Irish!
At exactly 12pm Eastern Time today, every med student hoping to start their residency on July 1 was handed an envelope. In it was a terse letter that said, “Congratulations! You’ve been matched. You will be doing your residency at…”
And that is how med students learn about their future as doctors. At 11:59am all was possible. Students could have been on a path to becoming a plastic surgeon in Plano or a radiologist in Reno. At 12pm, though, the die was cast, and the future became certain.
Serious stuff! So serious, in fact, that the complicated and groundbreaking algorithm that drives The Match won its creators a Nobel Prize.
I fondly remember my Match Day, both the feverish anticipation leading up to it and the excitement (and catharsis) of opening the envelope and finding out I had been matched to my top choice program at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. That residency turned out to be a career-defining moment for me, and it all started on a cold March day at high noon.
Getting the right job — a job you love — makes all the difference. Loving your work is the greatest privilege, and it is something we all should strive for, but any doctor can tell you that finding the right fit is a challenge.
In fact, perfecting the search for the perfect job is why my co-founders and I created Nomad Health. The pressure, uncertainty, and anxiety around The Match is extraordinary, and I don’t wish to go through it ever again. Thankfully, I won’t ever submit a rank list again! But finding jobs after residency is still difficult. As doctors, we learned how to care for patients, but we often didn’t learn the first thing about what you need to do to get hired. I was flabbergasted when I discovered the painful processes of credentialing, getting malpractice insurance, and obtaining my medical license.
With Nomad, we are trying to bridge that gap with technology and make it a breeze to find a job you love. Nomad is an online marketplace that helps you search, apply, and get hired for great jobs with no hassle thanks to cutting-edge technology that borders on magical. Like The Match, Nomad matches you to jobs tailor-made for you, but unlike The Match, you’re in total control. No more envelopes with binding decisions!
But today, Match Day, is indeed all about envelopes with binding decisions. So huge congrats to America’s newest doctors! Your joy today is well-deserved, and all of us here at Nomad wish you great success as you embark on the exciting journey of residency. And when, you’re ready to find that next job…Nomad will be here to help you.
Until then, go enjoy your success… and pints and pints of green beer!
Warmly,
Alexi Nazem
Co-founder and CEO
Nomad Health
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