Resident discusses the rush of opening Match Day envelope

Ahead of this year’s Match Day, held March 15, we’ll be sharing a series of member profiles of PGY-1 residents who matched into family medicine in Texas in 2023. Whether you were in the inaugural class of the National Residency Matching Program’s Match in 1952, or plan to match into family medicine in the next few years, the excitement of Match Day is contagious and undeniable. It’s a day of inspiring and emotional anticipation and exhilaration and something we look forward to every year. Watch TAFP spaces for upcoming Match Day coverage.

Jevon Chu, DO

PGY-1, UTHealth McGovern Medical School Family Medicine Residency Program

What was your Match Day 2023 experience?
I attended my medical school's (UNTHSC) Match Day ceremony with my family. I got to celebrate with my closest medical school friends! It was an incredible moment opening my letter with my family and finding out I would be coming back home to Houston for the next three years of training at a program I loved interviewing with.

Do any specific moments stick out for you a year later?
Yes, the moment after opening the letter. It was a rush of excitement, calmness, happiness – all at once, finally knowing where I was going to go, after all the years of hard work. It was exciting looking towards the future.

Tell us a few of your favorite experiences from your first year as a resident.
Doing procedure clinic in one of our continuity clinics – Nexplanon insertion/removals, vasectomies, toenail removals, and joint injections are my favorites! Taking care of whole families on one clinic day! Hanging out with my brilliant, wonderful, amazing, kind co-residents! Meeting future residents on second-look tours!

What advice would you give students who are currently waiting to find out where they match?
Trust the process, yourself included! I found it easy to give in to the doubt of whether my rank-list was "right," but I grew a lot while learning to trust my intuition about my preferences for my journey in family medicine. There will be a lot of emotions on Match Day, but everyone's journey in medicine is different, the best is yet to come.

What about students who have not yet begun the Match process?
Prioritize what is important to you in a residency program – is it location, specific rotations, call schedule, patient population, or a specific type of mentorship, etc.? Keep this list on hand while researching programs you want to apply for, and while you're in the process of interviewing.

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