Match Day 2013 was two days ago, and I've had a couple days to reflect to come up with some kind of meaning, if anything, to those events. Here are some random thoughts.
Memories of my own Match Day: Even though it's been 15 years since my own Match Day, as a physician, I still have this excitement for the coming of this particular day. I can definitely relate to what these medical students are going through. Best of luck to all the future graduates!
Good day for Primary Care: Even though there were more US medical students matched in Family Medicine versus one year ago, there was a 3.4 percent decrease versus 2012. The AAFP President is hopeful, but states that "Our Work Is Far From Finished." I would agree with that assessment.
Kudos To @TheNRMP twitter account: Whomever is behind the NRMP twitter account is doing a great job. I checked them out even a few days before Match Day. I enjoyed how they responded to students and to organizations when tweeting about Match related activities. And on Match Day itself, the account was sending congratulations and encouraging social media collaborations. Well done!
The Last Fun Match Day on Social Media: I was in my office hours the afternoon of Match Day, and it was great to follow. To me, it felt like New Year's Eve/Day in that you could see when the medical schools were opening their Match Day envelopes, almost like by time zone. And then you would see the excitement on twitter, and see the pics that were being shared. Unfortunately, I think this will be the last year of that. As Match Day was winding down on twitter, I could see some corporations and medical industry organizations invading some of the hashtags - "Congratulations to those who matched, and don't forget about our medically related product." I predict that you'll see that more next year, and that's sad...