VUSM student David Chooljian congratulates Joan Chen, who matched at Northwestern, her first choice.
photo by Dana Johnson
Matchmaking: Residency questions answered at Match Day
Light Hall was packed with students, family and well-wishers for Match Day, where graduating School of Medicine students learned where they would serve their residencies.
photo by Dana Johnson
Daniel Hoh celebrates upon learning he’s going to Cambridge for a transitional year, then it’s on to UCLA.
photo by Dana Johnson
Ornob Roy is hardly cavalier about matching at the University of Virginia.
photo by Dana Johnson
Adriana Schmidt hugs her friend, Tristan Gorrindo, who will be heading to Massachusetts General Hospital.
photo by Dana Johnson
Five years ago, Airron Richardson was going through a funk during his first year of medical school. On a whim, he decided to stop by that year's Match Day ceremony.
“There was screaming and cheering for each person and everyone was going to amazing programs,” Richardson said. “I left feeling so inspired about what would be in store for me if I just kept my nose to the grindstone.”
Fast-forward to yesterday and the cheering was for Richardson. As his name was called, he headed down the steps and accepted the envelope that held his residency fate.
“University of Chicago!” he called out, grinning from ear to ear. Richardson will train in emergency medicine at his first choice in programs.
“Even though Nashville feels like home, the idea of going to a large city for three years is exciting. I'm not sure what the future holds, but my wife and I would love to settle back down in the Nashville area after my training is finished,” he said. But for now, it's plans for life in the windy city for the soon-to-be M.D., M.B.A. graduate.
Thousands of medical students across the country learned where life would take them for the next few years through the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). The medical students started the process a year ago by formulating lists of residency programs they were interested in. After filling out applications and attending on-site interviews, they ranked the different programs, and the programs in turn ranked the students. The NRMP computer then matched the programs and students to give each their best choice. The culmination of this process is Match Day, when the selections are revealed simultaneously nationwide.
In a very successful match, 91 Vanderbilt students matched with residency positions across the country. Thirty-three students will continue to call Nashville home for the next few years while they complete their residencies at Vanderbilt. Four students matched with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, two with UCLA Medical Center, three with Stanford University Programs, four with Duke University Medical Center and five with Northwestern.
“Congratulations to all the members of the class of 2005 for reaching this momentous day,” said Steven G. Gabbe, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. “Wherever you go, you are a part of our family and always will be. For that, we are very grateful.”
Bonnie M. Miller, M.D., associate dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, had the honor of reading off names for the last time.
Next year it will go to Scott Rodgers, M.D., who recently took the post of assistant dean for Medical Students.
After hearing her name read, Joan Chen excitedly opened her envelope and found she matched with Northwestern. She will be completing an Internal Medicine residency with hopes of specializing in Gastroenterology.
“Northwestern stood out because of their solid placement in GI fellowship, their strong hepatology department and there is a lot of flexibility in their curriculum,” Chen said. “Plus, Chicago seems like a fun city to live in.”
Arvindh Kanagasundram is headed someplace a bit warmer. His face was beaming as he learned that he matched with his first choice — Stanford University — for an Internal Medicine residency. Kanagasundram quickly informed his family in Singapore, who were eagerly awaiting the news.
For Purnima Patel, the day was a bit less dramatic than for most of her fellow students. She participated in the early match, which is for those going on in ear, nose and throat, Ophthalmology, Neurology, Neurosurgery and Urology, and will be doing her Ophthalmology residency at Emory University in Atlanta.
Her envelope did hold some exciting news — the location where she will spend her preliminary year.
With her family looking on, Patel learned she will be at Emory for that as well.
“It's sad to leave Nashville after 25 years,” said Patel, who grew up in Nashville and attended Vanderbilt for her undergraduate degree. “But I am ready to see new things, and hopefully bring back those ideas to Vanderbilt in the future.”
As each name was read, another dollar went in to the fishbowl — a Vanderbilt tradition that has each student adding a dollar until the last name is called.
While Gabbe didn't get a white envelope to open, he did make a contribution to sweeten the pot — a $100 bill. The student to last learn about her residency was the lucky recipient of the bowl of money.
The day seemed quite familiar for Matthew and Diane Kutny. Four years ago they were in a similar situation, hoping to both be accepted into Vanderbilt's School of Medicine.
On Match Day, they wanted to match together in Pediatrics at Vanderbilt.
“We loved our Pediatric rotations, so we're both going into Pediatrics, although I wanted us to go into different fields,” Diane Kutny said. “I thought it would be more interesting if we did something different, but my heart told me that Peds was a better fit.”
As the couple opened their envelope and announced to their classmates that their hopes had been met, it was clearly a perfect match.