Each year, fourth-year medical students across the country find out where they will begin their careers as doctors, at a suspense-filled event known as Match Day. The 177th class of NYU School of Medicine took part in this emotional rite of passage on Friday, March 16, learning their residency placement at an event at Riverpark in Manhattan, surrounded by family, friends, and advisors.

Match Day is about more than ripping open an envelope. Students have spent the previous four years in demanding medical school courses, clinical rotations, and doing research and extracurricular activities. They begin applying for residency in summer or fall of their final year of medical school and travel to medical institutions across the country in fall or winter to interview with programs. 

“The thing I’ll miss most about NYU School of Medicine is the people. My classmates and advisors have become like family to me,” says Ignacio Calles, a fourth-year student whose background inspired him to pursue a career emergency medicine. Calles is also closely involved in NYU School of Medicine’s Supporting, Educating, and Enriching Diversity (SEED) Mentoring Program, which supports MD students who are underrepresented in medicine by offering them structured mentoring while in medical school. SEED was created by members of the Student Diversity Initiative, who works with the Office of Diversity Affairs to offer first-year medical students mentoring by upper-year medical students, residents, and attending physicians.

The match is made through a mutual selection process, with students and residency programs each ranking their preferences and a computer algorithm generating a match when there is a fit. The process is run by the National Resident Matching Program. This year, all 148 members of the NYU School of Medicine Class of 2018 who applied to a residency matched.

There is one group of medical students that does not experience the Match Day suspense. Third-year students in NYU School of Medicine’s three-year MD pathway, an accelerated track for a select group of eligible students, were guaranteed acceptance into a residency program at NYU Langone Health at the time of their school admission.

“As a nontraditional student, I worked in journalism and child literacy before pursuing medical school, and as soon as I heard about the three-year program, it was a huge draw,” says Brit Trogen, a three-year MD program student. “The fact that the program would accelerate medical school and guarantee me a spot in a residency program made it a perfect fit for me.”

NYU School of Medicine has a great track record of placing its students with their desired residency program, according to Linda R. Tewksbury, MD, associate dean of student affairs at NYU School of Medicine.

“Match Day is an exciting occasion for medical schools across the country,” says Dr. Tewksbury. “We take great pride in our NYU School of Medicine students matching with the programs of their choice.”

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Kate Malenczak
Phone: 646-754-7367
kate.malenczak@nyumc.org