Match Day is one of the most meaningful and career-impacting days of a medical student's career. This is when students discover where they will complete the medical residency phase of their training.
To match students with best-fit residencies, a sophisticated algorithm analyzes candidates, their backgrounds, their goals, and their preferred programs. The result should be mutually beneficial, but that doesn't always happen.
If you have academic, behavioral, or professionalism issues documented on your record, you might have difficulty receiving your dream match — or any residency match at all.
Things You Can Do (and How a Student Defense Advisor Can Help!)
Failure to match can be traumatizing.
If you expect this to happen because you have discipline on your record (or if it's already occurred), consider these actions.
- Try not to panic. You're not alone: Each year, there are more applicants than open positions. Failing to match may not be personal. It could be a numbers game.
- Take time to figure out why you didn't match. There could be weak areas in your application outside of past disciplinary issues. These could include lackluster personal statements or impersonal recommendation letters.
- Speak with your mentors. You may be able to identify and address any clear issues with your application relatively easily. For example, you could take time to bolster your research experience or spend some time performing additional clinical shadowing.
An additional simple-yet-strategic move is to hire a student defense attorney.
This type of professional will be able to leverage innate knowledge in the medical education field to identify any issues that could exist with your student disciplinary record. Then, they will be able to negotiate with your school, help you appeal disciplinary measures, and more to increase your chances of finding and getting into your preferred residency program.
In particular, you'll probably find that matching with a great residency is difficult if you have misconduct listed on your transcript. Request a copy of your transcript and examine it closely. If it's apparent (either through a specific notation or a gap in your studies) that you were involved in misconduct, professionalism, or academic progression issues, you need to speak with a lawyer and your school to move forward successfully with your residency match strategy.
Academic or Behavioral Record Standing in the Way of a Match? We Can Help
Attorney Joseph D. Lento has years of experience helping medical students overcome student record issues. If you're in a situation where you're having a hard time finding a match, you may need to consider whether your record is holding you back. Joseph D. Lento can help you negotiate with your school to resolve disciplinary issues — so you're better prepared to get the medical residency you've been waiting for.
Contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or schedule a consultation to learn more about the support the Lento Law Firm can offer.
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