March 20, 2008

Game. Set. Match!

Medical students learned that if you’re game to work hard and set to take your medical studies to the next level, you could match with a residency training program in your specialty. The lucky ones got their first choice.

Match Day in Harkness ballroom was a scene of great relief and joy as medical school seniors learned where they will spend their years of residency training. For the second consecutive year, all the seniors matched, meaning everyone was accepted somewhere.

While all around him, classmates shrieked, hugged each other and cried tears of joy, Timothy Sullivan stood motionless, his partner at his side, his envelope still sealed.

“I have to call my mom,” he said. “She personally funded and supported this venture from kindergarten on, so I feel like I should bring her in on this.”

“This,” of course, is Match Day, the day when more than 15,000 medical school seniors across the country learn where they will spend their years of residency training following graduation. As of Thursday afternoon, word had spread across the YSM campus that for the second year in a row, the entire class had “matched,” meaning that everyone had been accepted somewhere, and that nobody would have to “scramble” for a slot in an unfilled program.

But successfully matching doesn't necessarily mean getting your first choice, and for some students, like Sullivan, that distinction couldn't be more important. Sullivan's partner, Phoebe Koch, MD '07, who is pregnant with the couple's second child, did her preliminary year at the Hospital of Saint Raphael in internal medicine this year and will do her residency in dermatology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis starting in the fall. It was extremely important to Sullivan to match as near her as possible.

Sullivan picked up his cell phone and punched in his mother's phone number. He could scarcely hear her over the din in the Harkness ballroom, where the Match Day ritual is held, but when he was sure she was on the line, he put the phone down and slowly opened his envelope. Just as slowly, a smile spread across his face, and he leaned down to hug Koch. Sullivan, one of 97 Yale students who matched this year, had been accepted into the emergency medicine program at Regions Hospital/HealthPartners Institute in St. Paul.

What was the reaction of Sullivan’s mother? “It was hard to tell with everything that’s going on here,” Sullivan said, “but I think I heard little crying noises.”

For all students, the strengths and features of a given residency program are critical, but for many, personal considerations play an equally important role in determining which program is their first choice.

Gregory Nelson was thrilled to be selected to do his residence in orthopaedic surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, because “it’s a really strong program,” but also because “my fiancé was born at that hospital and her family lives nearby.”

Jennifer Dominguez hugged her husband, Hani Elwafi as he cradled their two-month-old daughter Salma. Elwafi is a first-year student, so Dominguez was very relieved to learn that she would be doing her residency in anesthesiology at Yale-New Haven Hospital.  “It is very important to keep our family together,” she said.

Associate Dean of Student Affairs Nancy Angoff beamed like a proud mother as she hugged student after ebullient student. “This is the third year out of the last four where we’ve had a 100 percent match,” she said. “I couldn’t be happier.”

Angoff said the University of California – San Francisco was popular among students this year, with ten students matching there. But schools in Boston were also highly sought after. Eight students matched at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, eight matched at Massachusetts General Hospital and one will be heading to Mount Auburn Hospital.

The trend toward students choosing so-called lifestyle specialties that offer manageable hours and allow doctors to maintain a balanced life continued. Four students from this year’s class will specialize in ophthalmology, four chose dermatology and seven chose anesthesiology. But Angoff also observed an increase in the number of students going into psychiatry - nine. “That is unheard of,” she said. “This is new for us.” 

Nationally, this year’s Match was the largest ever. A total of 28,737, including 15,242 U.S. medical school seniors, vied for one of 22,240 first-year residency positions. Conducted by the National Resident Matching Program, the Match uses a computer algorithm, designed to align the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency programs.

—Jennifer Kaylin

Photo gallery:

Photos by John Curtis

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