Ivy Co '18

Couples matching was very daunting at first. I know of students who have successfully couples matched, unsuccessfully couples matched, and those who chose not to couples match because it can get so complicated. That being said, [my partner, Tom Gallant, D.O. '18] and I looked into all of the different factors early in our third year of medical school. Important factors included applying to a lot of programs, applying to programs in a city with ample programs around in case we did not match at the same hospital, linking our applications together right from the beginning, and consistently bringing up the fact that we were couples matching during our sub-internships and — most importantly — our interviews. Our rank order list was 288 long and, as one can imagine, it was extremely difficult to organize. We both obviously wanted to do everything we could to match together, but we also did not want each other to sacrifice entrance to a great program for each other or even risk not matching. To ensure that we both matched, we ranked every combination between our individual lists. We prioritized being together at programs that we both loved and honestly would have been happy with probably our top 15–20 combinations. 

Ultimately, Georgetown was both of our top choices for multiple reasons and though I can only speak for myself, I think we were both amazed and humbled when we opened the letter. I also just had an intense feeling of gratitude that somehow all of our hard work (endless hours in the hospital, traveling back and forth, preparing for interviews, etc.) all resulted in the perfect ending because unfortunately nothing is guaranteed. We first met in Washington D.C., working at the National Institutes of Health, prior to attending UNE COM so we are extremely excited to be able to return to the D.C. area to train. 

[Anesthesiology] was definitely not a specialty I even considered going into medical school. However, all of the experiences I had and the people I met during my third year really influenced my decision. I really enjoy the diversity in anesthesia and appreciate the bridge it provides between surgery and medicine. My goals as of now — aside from surviving intern year — is to go on to complete a fellowship in critical care or pediatrics following residency.