Behind The White Coat - Real Talk For Physician Spouses
Being married to medicine comes with challenges—long hours, relocations, and feeling like you’re navigating it all alone. That’s where this podcast comes in.
I’m sharing the things I wish someone had told me—how to survive medical training, juggle parenting, manage finances, and actually build a life you love. We’ll cover everything from making friends in a new city to understanding insurance, finding childcare, and staying connected as a couple.
Some episodes will be just me, sharing real stories and lessons learned. Other times, I’ll bring on expert guests—financial advisors, physician spouses, and those who’ve been through it all—to offer practical advice.
Most of all, this is a place for community. A space where you can feel understood, supported, and even laugh along the way. Because being married to medicine doesn’t mean doing it alone.
So grab a coffee (or wine!), and let’s talk about the real side of life Behind The White Coat.
Behind The White Coat - Real Talk For Physician Spouses
#2| Match Day Mayhem: What is it, How it Feels, and How We Got Through It
The anxiety of watching a loved one open an envelope that determines your family's future is something only a medical spouse truly understands. Match Day represents that pivotal moment when years of medical education culminate in a single decision that will shape the next chapter of your lives together.
Having gone through this experience 19 years ago, I'm pulling back the curtain on the entire Match Day process—from the months-long application cycle to that heart-pounding moment when the envelope is opened. As someone who expected to be headed to New York but found herself Nashville-bound instead, I understand firsthand how quickly you need to pivot your plans, expectations, and sometimes your entire life vision.
The whirlwind between Match Day and July 1st residency start date can feel overwhelming. Suddenly you're juggling potential relocation, housing decisions, employment changes, childcare concerns, and budget adjustments—all while supporting your partner through one of the biggest transitions of their career. That's why I'm sharing practical advice for navigating this critical time as a medical couple, including why you should celebrate regardless of where you match and the importance of having contingency plans.
What makes this journey bearable—even beautiful—is understanding that no city defines your experience; the people and community you build around you do. Whether you're approaching Match Day, in the midst of residency life, or looking back on your medical journey, this episode offers both the emotional support and practical guidance I wish I'd had during our matching process. Share your own Match Day story with me on Instagram @AmandaBarronRealtor—your experience matters, and you're never alone on this path.
Nashville Physician Relocation Guide
Nashville Physician Spouses Facebook Page
Hey there and welcome to Behind the White Coat. I'm Amanda Barron, your host, physician, spouse and your go-to friend for real talk about this medical life. If you're juggling long hours, solo parenting or finances and feeling overwhelmed, you are not alone. This podcast is your space for honest conversations, real advice and the support that I wished I'd had years ago. So some episodes will be just me sharing what I've learned along the way, and then other times I'll bring on guests to help navigate the challenges of being married to medicine. So grab a cup of coffee or wine, get comfy and let's dive in. Hey everyone, and welcome back. So glad to have you for this next episode. Last time we just discussed an intro, basically about me, who I was and what you can expect with this podcast. So with this episode let's just dive right in. And it is discussing match day Whether you have been through it, you're going through it, you know someone that's gone through it. It's a super stressful and confusing holiday for fourth-year med students. So today's episode we're going to just talk a little bit about what it is, what to expect and just some advice for somebody that is going through it or getting ready to go through it, a partner that's going through it, from somebody that has gone through it. What Match Day is? For those of you that aren't sure, it is?
Speaker 1:When fourth-year medical students start their application and interview process leading up to graduation and potentially going into their residency. So fourth year, probably around October through February, the applications start going in. That's when they figure out whether or not they're going to get an interview. And once they have interviews what happens is they do a rank list. So basically they've got their institutions in order from one, two, three, four, five and so forth, as far as their favorite to maybe their least favorite. And sometimes you only have one and sometimes you have a lot. So each med student's going to be a little bit different as far as their interviews, applications and then the rank list. So once the fourth year student ranks, then the institutions will rank that student as well One, two, three, four, five and so forth.
Speaker 1:And wherever that algorithm it's a computer. Wherever that algorithm meets up for the med student and the institution is where you match. And it can be a little stressful, a little overwhelming, not really sure what to expect, and it's a lot. It's a lot to take in, both for the student and the families involved and so our experience with Match Day. Hard to believe it was 19 years ago, but it happens every year in March, pretty close to St Patrick's Day, which is a funny day because a day of luck, but also my husband's birthday, and so Match day typically is right around that day.
Speaker 1:And what happens the week before match day? The fourth year med students will get an email notifying them if they've matched or if they haven't matched, and if they haven't matched, that's when they will start to put their name into a pool of what's the acronym is SOAP and what that stands for is Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program, and I do not have a lot of experience in that. But I am excited to say I do have a special guest coming on to discuss their journey and what that looks like and her advice and what that process looks like. So if you're going through something like that, stay tuned for that episode. I think it's going to be really informative, hopefully give you some action steps of what to do. If that happens to be you, so I'm really excited to have that guest on. But if you do match, you are notified via email and then fast forward. In a week you are basically in an auditorium at your institution. Everybody gets an envelope and they do a countdown. You know 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You open your envelope and you figure out your fate. You find out what's going to happen and it's nerve wracking.
Speaker 1:So our personal story my husband matched 19 years ago. He did med school in San Antonio. We ranked our list and, interesting enough, our first choice was New York. We at the time thought it would be so exciting. We wanted to experience things. We didn't know a ton about New York. So that was our first choice. And he opened his envelope and we matched in Nashville, at Vanderbilt, and I think that was his second choice. So we were super excited. We didn't know much about Nashville either, so we knew it was going to be an adventure and a journey. But it wasn't our first choice. So we were like, okay, we're going to pivot and obviously hindsight's 20-20. We ended up exactly where we were supposed to be. I think about New York and its weather, the tiny apartment we would have lived in, we would have had a little baby at the time, it would have been a totally different experience for us. So I am grateful we matched where we matched because it was exactly where we needed to be, and so, leading up to that, it's stressful and it's okay to feel these feelings.
Speaker 1:But you've got all the what ifs Figuring out everything that you need to take care of and do in your current city, and then all the things you've got to do once match day hits. It is like crunch time, from March to basically July 1st, when most of the residencies start. It's a lot to cover in your current city, your new city. Wrapping things up maybe you have to sell a house, figuring out your housing in your new city, the timing of everything, figuring out a budget as a partner are you going to be working? Finding where you need to work, figuring out the commute Some people have kids, so they've got to figure out childcare or school systems. So, again, it's a lot of moving parts and it's normal to have these fears, these anxieties, the what ifs, and you've got to just tackle those together.
Speaker 1:A couple of things that I would offer to you as far as tips to ease the stress. One no matter where you end up matching, celebrate. This is a huge, huge feat, not only for the med student going into residency and graduating, but for you as a partner or or spouse going through all of that training as well. Our ongoing joke is that I have an honorary MD, since I was side by side with him during that journey. But congrats to both of you. Celebrate and just enjoy the moment, because it's going to be a whirlwind once you start moving forward, getting ready for that residency.
Speaker 1:The second tip is I would talk about what ifs in preparation to match day. So have a plan B, just like us. If your plan A doesn't work, then what is plan B going to look like? So having some sort of backup, I think, automatically gives you a sense of relief. It potentially removes some of the stress so that you know what you need to be doing or what you're going to do once you open up that envelope and decide what the next steps are. So celebrate and make sure you've got a plan B.
Speaker 1:Those would be my two tips for you and to recap, or to keep in mind that, no matter where you match if it was your dream program or something that wasn't what you were expecting no city is going to define your journey. It's the people that you walk this journey with. It is your community, it is who you surround yourself with and just really dive into, immersing yourself into this new city, this new adventure, and I think it's always easy hindsight 2020,. It went by so fast for us. Even though it was hard and exhausting, I'm so glad we made the best of it and we created these new memories. We built this community, we built this support and we loved it so much. We've stayed here in the Nashville area again 19 years, which is hard to believe.
Speaker 1:So, anyhow, that is Match Day in a nutshell and our personal story, and I just invite you to share your Match Day story. Whether you matched or not. I would love to just get your take on things, advice, additional questions. You have or maybe you're going to be matching and you've got a lot of emotions and a lot of questions. I would love to hear those questions and if I'm not the right person to answer those, I will definitely make sure we've got an expert on that can answer them and stay tuned.
Speaker 1:We've got a lot of great stuff coming up in the upcoming episodes. Down below I'll have show notes and any links or anything that I think may be helpful for you as far as preparing for your match day, and I just appreciate you, I appreciate your time and just know you're not in this alone. Your story matters and until next time, bye. That's a wrap on this episode of Behind the White Coat. I hope today's conversation left you feeling more understood and supported, and if you enjoyed this episode, I would love for you to subscribe, leave a review or share it with another physician spouse. Your support helps more of us to connect. Keep in mind, this podcast is for you, so let's keep this conversation going. Dm me on Instagram at Amanda Barron Realtor, with your thoughts, topic ideas, questions or even guest suggestions. I would really love to hear from you. Thanks for spending part of your day with me and remember you are never in this alone. See you next time.