Nearly 180 graduating students at the School of Medicine gathered on March 21 to celebrate Match Day, a time when medical students receive their residency training assignments for the next three to four years. Most were matched within one of 17 specialties across the country.
School of Medicine Dean of Student Affairs Amy Kuhlik explained that fourth-year doctors-in-training were matched according to a mutual ranking system in their specialty. After turning in their list of top program choices, they undergo a series of interviews and are ranked by each one. On Match Day, the students simultaneously open envelopes to reveal with which program they were paired.
"They were all great matches for Tufts students," Kuhlik said. "Most got one of their top three choices, and we had many go to some of the best programs in the country. Our students do terrifically with highly competitive residencies overall."
According to Kuhlik, the most popular specialties were internal medicine (22 percent), family medicine (12 percent), emergency medicine (11 percent) and pediatrics (11 percent).
This year also marked the second graduating class of Tufts' "Maine Track" program, which paired 29 Tufts students interested in working in rural areas with training at the Maine Medical Center.
"Students spend time either at the Medical Center or throughout rural sites in the state," Kuhlik said. "Instead of being [limited to] a specialty area or clerkship their third year, they'll have one week with a pediatrician, one week with a general surgeon and so on."
Following graduation this spring, all residents will be able to follow patients within their chosen field for nine months, according to Kuhlik.
"They pick up new patients and build on that panel over the course of a year," she said. "They develop these longitudinal relationships. It's a phenomenal experience."
Kuhlik said that while about one quarter of the class will stay in Massachusetts, students are scattered around the country, with 12 percent in California and nine percent in New York.
"They end up traveling all over, with the farthest program in Alaska," she said. "We also have three students going to Hawaii. It's very exciting."
The reality of moving on from so many years of classroom training to real world experience in a new setting is part of what makes the national Match Day such a significant event for students, according to Family Medicine Director of Medical Student Education at Tufts Wayne Altman.
"Because you've worked so hard in college to get to medical school, and then worked so hard there to go into your desired field and residency, it all culminates in that moment when you're handed your envelope," Altman said. "The location of your residency is tied into your personal life - family and friends you are near or not near - so it's very emotional. You see screaming, tears of joy and tears of sadness."
While most students were satisfied with the outcome of Match Day, Altman explained that a few were disappointed to find out that they did not receive any match.
"Most people are happy, but there are always some who are a little - or a lot - upset," he said. "Each year there's a handful of students who don't match, and they have to scramble to find residency programs that have open spots."
Still, Altman said it was a very positive Match Day for the Medical School community.
"There [were] a very low number of Tufts students who had to scramble this year," he said. "Either way, it's a very meaningful experience."
Fourth-year family medicine student Lauren Goli expressed gratitude and excitement about her placement at a predominately Latino clinic in Seattle, Wash.
"I opened my envelope, not sure if I was going to wind up in Fresno or San Diego or somewhere else on the west coast, and I ended up getting my first choice," Goli said. "It was wonderful. I was really excited and even a little shocked, because it is a very competitive program."
Goli said she was looking forward to working with the underprivileged community in Seattle, as well as being close to her own family and husband, a fellow medical student.
"I am honored to find the program that fit me so well," she said. "I get to do exactly what I want to do, working with so many interesting people. It's incredibly lucky."
