<p>That is what I was wondering wowm. So both people in the match should be about equal in scores etc to maximize their chances, or at least equal to what they are applying to? Does anybody here have any first or second hand knowledge with couples match? Another thought, can one match to a certain city or area and then the second only apply to those in that area and mention the first?</p>
<p>I have 2nd hand knowledge with couples matching, two of my good friends did it last year with their fiancees. (All 4 of them got their 1st choices, although as youāll see in my example below, just because it was ranked #1 doesnāt mean it was truly the #1 choice).</p>
<p>With regard to couples matching, each line on the rank list is both peopleās outcome, so it looks like
- Harvard/Harvard
- Harvard/Tufts
- Tufts/Harvard
- Columbia/NYU
- Penn/Temple
- NYU/NYU
etc.
Of course,At the very bottom of the list, you probably have to throw in a few unmatched/X options in case one person really gets tanked.</p>
<p>I would say that couples matching is only an issue if one person is really under qualified and itās going to be hard to match them or if the stronger applicant will resent the lower one for making them give up a better program to be in the same city. Couples matching requires a much longer rank list as you have to do every possible permutation, including each of the two people not matching. It also becomes a game of who gives up ground first e.g. letās say both people want MGH as #1 but then one personās #2 is somewhere else in boston, #3 is in NYC and the other person (if they were making their own list) would rather go to 3 other programs before their 2nd choice boston (letās say #2 is in NYC, #3 is in philly, and #4 is in DC). Obviously the first rank is MGH(1)/MGH(1) but then what is number 2? Is it MGH(1)/Boston(5) or is it NYC(3)/NYC(2)?</p>
<p>Now, if you do it at separate times, itās definitely better if the stronger person is going 2nd because theyāre more likely to be able to āchooseā where they are going. What you want to avoid is say the stronger person going first, matching in boston, and then the 2nd person isnāt strong enough to match anywhere in boston. Now they are separated. If it were couples matching, at least the rank list could be set up like my quick example where if the 2nd person canāt match into boston, they try for a different city.</p>
<p>The simple answer is that couples matching allows the couple to do whatever they want. So their match list could include:</p>
<ol>
<li>NY, NY</li>
<li>NY, Boston</li>
<li>Boston, NY</li>
<li>Boston, DC</li>
<li>DC, Boston</li>
<li>DC, DC</li>
<li>DC, no match</li>
<li>No match, DC</li>
</ol>
<p>So if the couple decides that they want to be in the same geographic area, and they are willing to travel between NY and Boston, then theoretically they could match NY and Boston. Or, they could value one partner getting their program and the other not matching. The algorithm works such that the ābestā pair of programs, linked by the couple, is selected. So in the above group, if the first person had an offer from NY but the second person didnāt get an offer from either NY or Boston, then the algorithm would search for a Boston match for the first person. If the first person gets Boston, and the second person had an offer from DC, the couple would get pair 4, Boston and DC.</p>
<p>It would not āsplit upā the applicants unless the couple had created a linked pair that split them up (so in the above scenario, the first person would not go to NY while the second person matched in DC, since there is no NY, DC linked pair). So the only way a couple would go matched/unmatched would be if they had designated that combination as one of their linked pairs. If they did not designate that, and one of them failed to match at any of the linked programs, then it would return as āno matchā and the couple would scramble/SOAP. Avoiding scramble/SOAP is a reason some couples may choose to list no match/match as a linked pair. </p>
<p>Thereās also no limit to the number of linked pairs a couple creates, but there sort of is a limit to the number of programs that go into the list of linked pairs (in that each program over 15 total programs incurs an additional feeācanāt recall if itās 15/person or 15/pair total though). </p>
<p>Jeez, that sounds all so incredibly complicated. I am soooooo glad this wonāt be an issue for D1. (Thank all the multitudinous deities for a trailing āspouseā who is willing to relocate his life.) </p>
<p>Yike!!! But thanks for the tutorial. I am pretty sure a migraine is on the way.</p>
<p>ā¦and more complicated knowing that Transitional year most likely is NOT at the same location as specialty residency (with the hopes that applicant matches to both)ā¦clear as mudā¦bumpy ride, but at the end the goal is still matching somewhere, I bet D. will take it. The rest of the life aspects will need adjustments one way or another, just like everybody else. The tragedy is when they do not match. I have no idea about htis one at all, I do not think that D. has any kind of plan for this. I have no desire to discuss it now, too depressing.</p>
<p>Same here WOWM, sonās SO is also willing to relocate wherever he ends up. She does have preferences BUT is happy with almost all his possibles. Her whole family is out in so Cal and they checked it out 2 summers ago, and son ruled it out. She came to terms with that the 2 summers ago so it doesnāt even come up. And now that she has moved here she is really starting to enjoy the area. More so than son even anticipated. So he as actually been rearranging some other decisions. He was going to wait and complete his MBA later down the road at possibly where he might match at, but at her suggestion he applied now and will start in a few months, saves time and money. And she likes it here, so its a win-win for now. Son did say the couples match can be a real headache and heart-ache if it doesnāt work out.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Iām curious why the MBA/MD is a common pursuit. Can you share insights as to why this is the case? Wondering what the ultimate career goal is. Administration is my initial thoughtā¦</p>
<p>Hospital admin, industry (biotech/pharma) or simply running your own practice - it is a business after all.</p>
<p>^^^all of the above plus policy, and consulting. Sonās best buddy at Harvard is finishing up his JD/MBA and will not be taking the bar. He has been hired as a consultant for a PE firm, can choose his location. He and son had the same major/degree from the same undergrad and that degree is why he was hired. Seriously. The advanced degrees, just extra. He turned down several other great offers to practice for consulting. Whole different world for us (well, mainly me).</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>You donāt need the MBA to run your own practice but obtaining one sounds like a great idea for venturing out of medicine into industry. I expect that private industry would be thrilled to have someone who is an expert in medicine and has the credentials to speak ātheirā business language.</p>
<p>I certainly didnāt mean to imply that an MBA was needed to run a practice, but surely it makes you more desirable to lead a group practice or simply feel more confident about running a solo practiceā¦no?</p>
<p>I can only speak from the position of not having an MBA and running a group. So much of what is necessary for an office and group requires learning how to bill correctly, negotiate competitive reimbursement rates and staffing efficiently to match patient volume. These are so specific to medicine and not something taught in an MBA program. None of the directors in my town, to my knowledge, have MBAs. As a group, we definitely wouldnāt hire someone to run a group because they had an MBA. We hire experience. But if 2 candidates have experience leading groups, the candidate with the MBA would definitely have an edge.</p>
<p>But I would agree that business training could revolutionized medicine. I see too many physicians screwing themselves over because of conflicts with hospital administrators and other groups. Too often, physicians make demands that are detrimental to the hospitalās revenues with no clinical benefits. Other times, they get into fights with other groups when they would benefit through mergers. I would advise physicians to participate on hospital committees and learn the business language. An MBA would be very impressive to the hospital administration because they would expect a common understanding for the bottom line.</p>
<p>āconfident about running a solo practiceā¦no?ā - Naah. Why? I have an MBA, my H. has one, I do not see any connection, and we do not use it and we both are in business. Business knowledge is largely common sense. Anybody who went to Med. School has much more under the skull than simple common sense. There are positions that absolutely require an MBA, like some on Wall Streetā¦and they sometime take techieās without any Business classes precicely for the fact that these ārocket scienceā type of peopl are much more ābrainyā than ābusinessā type. No MBA will teach you to be a D. Trump. In fact, I would feel greatly insecure if I just took business classes and had an MBA. Them what? What you do? You got to have some proffesional skills or be very talented for the Wall Street (if MBA). I am an IT, my H. is an engineer and that is what we do. MBA has helped me to find many jobs, but that was the only use of this degree in my case.</p>
<p>The rank list is due Wednesday, having heard the feedback after each interview it is fascinating to watch them all being ranked. My DD is likely going to rank only places she really liked. She has a plan for not ranking and each locale/program is being compared to that plan. She is quite confident things will be fine either way, which is quite nice versus the panic I have read in past years on SDN regarding people who did not rank.</p>
<p>by āpeople who did not rankā do you mean āpeople who did not matchā? Or did you mean people who were panicking about whether or not to rank a specific program on their list?</p>
<p>Oh, Kristin, you are right, I meant the freak outs over not matching! Though there are plenty of SDN freak outs about not ranking a certain program.</p>
<p>It has been delightful to see the level of calm that settled over DD once interview season began. She just took each day as it came and chose everyday to try not to be stressed by so many little things that, prior to this overwhelming season, would have merited stress, but simply no longer make the cut.</p>
<p>Ha! I spoke too soon, Everything felt mellow and orderly Monday, but with the ROL due Wednesday evening, all sorts of "what ifsā have surfaced.</p>
<p>As I live on the west coast, I think the deadline to submit has passed so just sit back and relax. Itās out of Dās hands. Good lick to D.</p>