Med School Class of 2006 Scatters from Coast to Coast

Match Day turns students into residents

With the emotional intensity of the Oscars, the anticipation of the college draft, and the culmination of four years of training, fourth year U-M Medical School students gathered on Thursday afternoon, March 16, at the Sheraton Four Points in Ann Arbor for Match Day. One by one, students were called center stage to receive a plain, white envelope that contained their fates for the next three to seven years— a single slip of paper stating where they will do their residencies.

The Match, conducted annually by the National Resident Matching Program, is the primary system for aligning applicant preferences with those of residency programs at U.S. teaching hospitals. This year, 164 U-M students participated in the Match. Nearly 20 percent will do their residencies at U-M, and the rest will be scattered all over the country, from Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in California to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts.

During the third year, medical students select the residency programs in which they desire to participate; interviews take place in the fourth year. Then, based on factors that include interview results, student preferences and available openings, an impartial match is made through the national system.

The residency matching process is nearly as important as graduation. Because U-M Medical School students are considered among the best in the nation, more than 90 percent are typically accepted by their first, second or third choices.

Match Day at the University of Michigan is full of traditions and rituals, too. For example, when students receive their matches, they toss some cash into a bowl and place a tack in a U.S. map to mark this next step on their professional journeys. Traditionally, the last student to get his/her match envelope gets the cash, which often is used later when the class gathers to celebrate.

TWO MATCH DAY STORIES IN BRIEF

Ebony Parker Featherstone is a ‘graduate’ of the Summer Science Academy—an enrichment program for highly motivated 10th and 11th graders—and the Summer Clinical Research Apprenticeship Program for college students, both offered through the Medical School’s Diversity & Career Development Office. This year, Ebony Parker Featherstone, M.D., will begin her residency in family medicine at the University of Michigan Health System.		Nirali Bora and Charlie Draznin, a couple since their third year in medical school, decided to take advantage of a process that allows couples to match to the same institution. First, they made individual lists of their matching preferences. Then, they discussed the merits of each. In the end, they had a list meeting both their needs. On match day, the two learned that Brown University in Providence, RI, is their destination; Dr. Bora for Family Medicine, Dr. Draznin for Emergency Medicine.

See photos and get more information about U-M Match day 2006.