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Monday, January 31, 2011

Matched!

I don't like to leave depressing/trainwreck posts at the top of my blog, and I have awesome news to share, so I'm posting two days in a row. Hell has officially frozen over. Or it's about to, with yet another blizzard on the way...

I got a job! Well, a residency position. I originally wanted to apply to residencies in general dentistry so that I could spend a year learning things I hadn't learned in dental school and building up my speed, as sort of a stepping stone to working as a real live dentist. Plus it's easier to find a job and you can make more money if you do a residency first. The divorce changed that for me, or so I thought-- kind of tough to be on call at a hospital when you are a single mom. So I never applied.

Then, earlier this month, I started thinking about doing the AEGD (Advanced Education in General Dentistry) residency program at my school, because their call schedule is a lot more manageable than smaller programs where there are fewer residents. I wished I had applied, so I asked the director about possibly taking any spots left open after the "match". He replied that he doubted there would be any spots left, so I should immediately get a match number because the match was closing in three days, and that he could interview me the next day.

Actually, it went something like this:
1:50: I send email whilst sitting in boring class.
1:55: Program director responds.
1:56: I open his email and start reading.
1:57: My phone buzzes with a text from a friend saying "Dr. [program director] is coming to look for you RIGHT NOW! HEADS UP!"
1:58: Classroom door opens and he pokes his head in and asks for me.

It was all very sudden.

Anyway. It worked out. I matched to UConn. I have a job for next year. I'm freaking ecstatic. !!! And pretty flattered, because a lot of people in my class didn't match to any program and the whole thing was all very last-minute for me... as in, I kind of circumvented the entire application process...

So, I can breathe easy and know that I'll at least have benefits, a stipend, and a place to work next year. I can support myself and Caroline and we won't be out on the streets. Which is always a good thing. Now I just need to refocus and find the motivation to get through boards and the next three and a half months until graduation. Easier said than done, these days, because all kinds of things are resurfacing and/or going wrong and/or distracting me from what I am supposed to be doing.

Said the girl who sat on the couch blogging and blasting loud music instead of studying for a board exam which is... um... tomorrow.

But I know I can do it. I know I can. I've come this far.

7 comments:

stephanie said...

good luck girl! kill it (this is the dentist mom that commented many months ago)

Monica said...

YAY!! I am so excited for you! It's so hard to find jobs these days anyway, so great work! (And good luck on boards).

Jenifer said...

congratulations. when things are right they just work out!

Ms. Polka Dottie said...

GREAT news!

PharmDmomma! said...

COngrats, and also, its Caro's Birthday today right?

I can't believe she's two already!!!

Happy birthday to your sweet LO!

edmo said...

Hope you did well on your board exam! And hopefully you didn't get crap weather like we did here (Ohio) which would only add to the anxiety.

AnotherOne said...

You still need to find motivation?

I think you have to re-read your post and try to repeat there's a lot to achieve!

I think the motivation is already in you... and, if it helps, you motivate all us. Go girl, keep up the good posts.