The Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University held its annual Match Day with graduating students learning where they will spend the next four to seven years of their medical careers by matching into top medical residency programs across the United States.
The event at Fort Worth’s historic Cowtown Coliseum on Friday saw the TCU medical school’s future physicians move on to advanced training at prestigious health care systems such as The Mayo Clinic, UCLA Health, Duke University Medical Center, and UT Southwestern Medical Center, the school said in a news release.
“When these students walked into our school four years ago, they walked into the health care profession during the uncertainty of the pandemic each with a passion to help others despite that uncertainty,” said Dr. Stuart D. Flynn, founding dean of Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.
Each year, on the third Friday in March, fourth-year medical students across the country find out where they will begin their careers as doctors within the specialty of their choice when The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) releases results to applicants seeking residency and fellowship training positions.
The NRMP conducts the match using a computerized mathematical algorithm to align the preferences of applicants with the preferences of U.S. residency programs seeking new trainees. Residency training for most graduates will begin in June or July.
This year’s Match included 44,853 applicants who certified a rank order list (“active applicants”) and 41,503 certified positions in 6,395 residency training programs, according to NMRP. The process is extremely competitive, officials said, because there are annually more medical school graduates than residency slots.
“I’m just so grateful that I did match,” said Sophie Wix, who landed a highly competitive residency in dermatology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “The field just lends itself to someone who loves research and wants to contribute to the cutting edge of the field.”
Burnett School of Medicine students will be entering 25 residency programs in Texas, including nine in North Texas. The most popular specialty was Emergency Medicine with 10 students going into that field. Rounding out the list of most popular specialties were: General Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Family Medicine, Anesthesiology, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery, and Psychiatry.
Sam Sayed matched into emergency medicine at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, one of the most prestigious residency programs in the country.
“Coming from where I come from it’s hard to really even dream about this in a tangible way,” Sayed said. “I feel like I’m going to get pinched one day.”
The Burnett School of Medicine put a unique touch on the Match Day celebration at the Cowtown Coliseum. A trick roper on horseback provided a show before students entered the arena area to find out their matches. Rodeo athletes on horseback handed out the envelopes containing their residency match. Family and friends of the students along with faculty and staff from the medical school, were able to join the students in the arena to celebrate their match. The students were also given commemorative belt buckles as a keepsake.
“Medical school and the process to get here to Match Day is a roller coaster,” said Dr. Yolanda Becker, M.D., director of career and professional development at Burnett School of Medicine.
“After years of preparation they are about to embark on their life’s work,” Becker said. “This is one of the most exciting times of their lives when they will move on to the next phase of their journey and continue to learn and teach.”
The Burnett School of Medicine has been working with hospitals systems in North Texas to grow and expand graduate medical education (GME) slots. In 2020, the school announced a partnership with Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center Fort Worth for a resident training program that will eventually train more than 150 physicians annually. In 2021, the school announced an expanded affiliation with Texas Health Resources that includes support of GME programs at hospitals in Fort Worth, Hurst-Euless-Bedford and Denton with nearly 50 new slots. That annual number is expected to increase to more than 110 by July.
Information for this article was provided by the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.