March 11, 2010
UW medical students will take part in National Residency Match Day March 18
Next Thursday, 168 graduating UW medical students will learn where they will train as residents on what has come to be called “Match Day.” On March 18, UW students will join U.S. medical school students across the country in receiving their placement results from the National Resident Matching Program.
Residency training, also called graduate medical education, prepares medical school graduates to practice in a particular field. Medical students may opt to specialize in general surgery, family medicine, dermatology, psychiatry, pediatrics, infectious diseases. or other clinical disciplines. There are some 131 physician specialties with accredited residency training programs. Residency training can last from three years to seven or more years, depending on the specialty.
The National Resident Matching Program uses a computer algorithm that aligns the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency programs to fill the thousands of training positions available at U.S. teaching hospitals. The resulting matches are distributed at medical schools across the country exactly at noon Eastern Daylight Time on Match Day.
Families, friends and classmates with join graduating UW medical students on Match Day, which takes place in the Magnuson Health Sciences Lobby. Medical school mentors, leaders and staff will also be on hand to observe the tense, exciting and moving moments when the students learn about residency placements. Residency training typically starts in July.
Last year’s National Residency Matching Program had a record-breaking number of participants. More than 30,000 applicants sought residency training positions.
