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On Friday, March 17, the SOM class of 2017 will receive letters telling them where they will begin practicing medicine, like the three happy students pictured here on Match Day 2016. |
Match Day, when soon-to-graduate medical students learn where they will begin their careers, is a momentous day for aspiring doctors. UMass Medical School marks the importance of the event with a schoolwide celebration for family, friends, faculty and fellow students.
Attendees are asked to gather for Match Day 2017 on Friday, March 17, in the new Medical School Lobby and Faculty Conference Room beginning at 11:30 a.m. At noon, the School of Medicine class of 2017 will simultaneously open their sealed envelopes revealing where they will spend the next three to seven years training as medical residents.
The 2017 Main Residency Match is expected to be the largest in history, according to the National Resident Matching Program. NRMP administers the matches, which are made through a complex algorithm that takes into account the preferences of both students and residency programs following the months-long application process. While Match Day logistics and traditions vary from school to school, the NRMP requires envelopes containing the matches not be opened by students before noon on the third Friday of March.
In a longstanding UMMS tradition, each student will place a dollar in a basket when they receive their envelope. The last student called will receive the pot of money, which he or she will most likely spend celebrating with classmates.
The School of Medicine has enjoyed excellent match results over the years, with more than 50 percent of students consistently entering primary care residencies, fulfilling a key part of the school’s mission to train primary care doctors.
Last year, 116 students from the SOM class of 2016 were matched with residencies. Of those, 69 students, comprising 58 percent of the class, chose careers in internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics. Adding those who matched in obstetrics & gynecology and emergency medicine, there were a total of 81 students representing 68 percent of the class entering primary care specialties. Sixty-six graduates began practice in Massachusetts, including 24 who stayed at UMMS.
Look for coverage of the event on UMassMedNow on Friday afternoon, including a video and slideshow.
Related stories on UMassMedNow:
Home sweet home for UMass Medical School’s Waldo Zamor on Match Day
WCVB-TV’s Chronicle gets inside look at UMMS on Match Day 2015
