At last, Match Day is almost here! The whole application process—from starting the residency application in the early summer, to receiving interview offers, to months of travel across the country for numerous interviews, and finally to submitting a rank list—all has been leading up to this coming week. This is both very scary but also incredibly exciting, and in some senses, it feels as though much of medical school has been leading up to this very moment. I've noticed what feels like a discernible slowing of time these past few weeks, as I always experience when I'm highly anticipating something. However, with Match Day a mere five days away, it finally feels like this moment we're all waiting for is close. While we will learn where we have matched on Friday, the 21^st, tomorrow is also a big day for us M4s. At noon, we will all receive an email stating whether or not we matched. This is definitely going to be a nerve-wracking week!

To blow off some nervous energy, several of my classmates and I spent the day in Detroit today. We went to the Detroit Institute of Art and then out to lunch downtown, which was a lot of fun. I somehow haven't been to the DIA in my almost five years in Ann Arbor, which I'm glad I finally remedied! I'm certainly nowhere close to an art expert, but I have always loved museums and paintings, and it was wonderful to see the very impressive collection that is so close to home. The Diego Rivera mural—complete with an iPad tour that explains the different sections of the piece of art—was incredible, and I definitely plan on going back in the near future. I highly recommend a visit for anyone in the area!

I'm currently on my last rotation as a medical student, since April is my vacation month. I am finishing my M4 year with a head and neck anatomy elective which has been great so far. We do a dissection every morning and then have lectures with various otolaryngologists in the afternoon. I actually found M1 year anatomy pretty difficult and frustrating, largely because I struggled to place the anatomy in a clinical context and therefore had a lot of trouble with the rote memorization of structures.  Following my otolaryngology clinical rotations, though, I'm finding it a lot easier to learn the anatomy and relate it to various diseases, so these head and neck dissections are much more rewarding and less challenging the second go around.

Last month was really busy with my surgical intensive care unit rotation (hence the paucity of blogs recently). We were on a Q4 overnight call schedule, meaning we did a 30-hour call every fourth night. Staying awake for more than twenty-four hours at a time was definitely a new and strange experience for me, but I was amazed at how quickly one can adapt to large changes in the sleep schedule like this. Overall, the month was high intensity, but I enjoyed learning a little about ICU medicine and how to manage critically sick patients.

Our Second Look Weekend is right around the corner, which is always a really exciting time for the whole medical school. For anyone planning on attending (or deciding whether or not to attend) this really fun weekend, I'm more than happy to answer any questions. With my time as a Michigan me student coming to an end, I now more than ever feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to train here and would love to share my experience here with any applicants in the middle of the decision process! My email is [email protected]. Thanks and Go Blue!