March 17, 2023

By Lisa Ryan

On Friday, March 17, anticipation filled Drexel University College of Medicine’s Queen Lane Campus as fourth-year medical students gathered to learn where they would be spending the next three to seven years of their lives.

Match Day takes place at noon every year on the third Friday in March nationwide, when thousands of medical students open white envelopes to learn where they will do their residency training.

Students’ loved ones and College of Medicine faculty and staff were on site to celebrate an exciting next step in the future physicians’ careers.

After a countdown to noon, students opened their envelopes and greeted their match news with cheers, hugs for friends and family, and even some tears of joy.

After completing a lengthy interview process, graduating medical students submit a list of programs where they wish to train, ranked in order of preference, to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Program directors also submit a list of applicants whom they have interviewed and wish to train, in order of preference. Based on these combined preferences, the NRMP uses an algorithm to determine match outcomes.

Seema Baranwal, MD, senior associate dean for student affairs and an associate professor of medicine, welcomed students to the event. Donna Russo, PhD, interim vice dean for educational affairs, professor, senior associate dean for curriculum, and William Maul Measey Chair in Medical Education, also spoke during the ceremony.

Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Dean and Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs Charles B. Cairns, MD, addressed students and their guests shortly before noon. He complimented the students on their commitment not only to their studies, but to advancing health equity and addressing systemic racism.

“Your class has exceeded our expectations personally, academically and professionally,” he said. “You have persevered through an unprecedented time of extreme challenges, including a once-in-a-century pandemic, and we know that you are well prepared for what comes next."

The majority of the College of Medicine’s class of 2023 will train as physicians in Pennsylvania. The next most popular states for class of 2023 residency matches are:

• California, with 32 students
• New York, with 30 students

The specialties that the class of 2023 are pursuing the most are:

• Internal medicine, with 41 students matching
• Pediatrics, with 25 students matching
• Obstetrics and gynecology, with 22 students matching

 
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