To be fair, Match Day is March 19 for the entire country, not just UVA …

For those not familiar – What is Match Day? (and why should we care?) From UVA’s site for medical residents:

Thursday, March 19, 2009 is the big day. There will be a class meeting that morning followed by the Match Day Ceremony held in the Old Medical School Auditorium, which culminates at 12 noon . Attendance is required! Absences must be approved by Dean Pearson. The four days of the Match are broken down as follows:

Match Day is:

Match Day is when 4th year medical students find out which residency program they matched with. … two days before, you find out IF you matched or not. If you don’t match, then you have two days to “scramble” into a program, ANY program that wishes to take you.

The odds of matching at residents’ respective first choices –

How Are The Matches Made? A computer program is designed to match the applicants’ preferences with those of the residency programs. This year, 59 percent of the students got their first choice, but 11 percent had to settle for their fifth choice, or worse.

UVA medical residents (and JAG School folks, Law and Darden – I love that Darden’s Dean is blogging – students, et al) have traditionally comprised a significant segment of the Charlottesville and Albemarle real estate market. This year, like last, may be different for at least this reason – properties are not appreciating at the rate that used to be “expected.” We are returning to the historical norm of – if you buy and sell in three to five years and sell without losing money, you’ve done very well.

That being said, now really and truly is a great time to consider purchasing – if you are qualified.

… A future post will touch on the various Doctor’s Loan programs that are available.