Medical students from Western University of Health Sciences celebrated Match Day this year on March 17.
As a clock counted down to 9 a.m., students from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest waited anxiously to open their envelopes, learning where they will complete their post-graduate medical training.
The Match is a system hosted by the National Resident Matching Program, in which medical students obtain residency positions in U.S. accredited training programs.
Medical students across the country who participate in the Match open envelopes at the same time revealing their medical residency program.
The Match represents the culmination of undergraduate and medical school education, which in most cases means a minimum of eight years of study.
When the countdown ended, students discovered almost two-thirds of their class of future physicians will go into primary care medical residency programs.
Of the 96 Western University COMP-Northwest students who participated in the Match, 62 will go into primary care fields including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and OB-GYN.
More than 65 percent of COMP-Northwest’s Class of 2017 call the Northwest home.
Twenty-seven students from the DO Class of 2017 will complete their residency training in the Northwest: 15 in Oregon; 12 in Washington; four in Idaho; and one in Wyoming.
After students opened the envelopes, the room filled with hugs and cheers as the news of their residency locations and specialties were announced.
At COMP’s Pomona, Calif. campus, 209 students matched into post-graduate medical programs.
Medical residency programs can range from three to seven years, depending on the specialty.
For example, family practice is three years, while neurosurgery is seven years.
Following residency, the physician is then able to set up practice in the community of his or her choice.
Commencement for Western University COMP-Northwest’s Class of 2017 will be held Friday, June 2, 2017.
This will be the third class of graduating physicians from COMP-Northwest.
For more information on the ceremony, visit commencement.westernu.edu/lebanon.