One of the most suspenseful days of the year will play out Friday at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine as 41 soon-to-be doctors learn where the next leg of their journey will take them. They’re in good company, too, as thousands of medical students across the country anxiously get the same news.

Match Day is part of the National Resident Matching Program, which connects fourth-year medical students with residency programs across the country.  

“Every doctor remembers their Match Day,” said Dr. Cynda Johnson, dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.  “It’s an important milestone because it solidifies their future specialty and determines where they will be living for the next three to seven years of their lives.”

Match Day involves a complex algorithm that matches students’ preferences for the location and specialty of their residency with the residency programs’ ranking of applicants. The results are revealed at the same time on the same day at all medical schools in the United States.

The  Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine has had excellent results for its residency placements. All of its fourth-year students in its first two classes were matched with one of their ranked residency programs.  These included placements at some of the country’s most elite programs, including Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Duke. This year’s class interviewed for residencies in 40 states and the District of Columbia.

“As with the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine’s first two classes, these students have performed well, exceeding the national mean scores on their medical board exams,” said Dr. Aubrey Knight. “This, as well as other benchmarks of success, has positioned them to be highly competitive at the national level.”

In addition, 15 students from the first two classes remained in Roanoke either  for a preliminary year that some residencies require or to complete their entire residency.

The school will graduate its third class on May 7.

 

 

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