This year, 259 IU School of Medicine soon-to-be graduates fared well on Match Day, a program that coordinates thousands of medical students’ and U.S. hospital programs’ preferences. During their senior year, students apply and interview for their preferred residency positions throughout the nation; their selection is administered through the National Resident Matching Program of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
“The National Match Day program is a time to celebrate for fourth-year students,” says Dennis Deal, director of Academic Records-Medical Student Affairs. “It’s a rite of passage for the students, much like commencement, although with a little more anxiety. Finally, after all the hard work of medical school, students will find out where they will be and what they will be doing for the next three to six years of their lives.
“It also is a time for medical schools to reflect on the quality of their educational program. We’re very happy that many of our graduates will be pursuing residency training here at IU and in the state, but we’re also sending graduates to many very prestigious hospitals and programs throughout the country. Our students are very well received nationally. This speaks highly of the caliber of IU medical students and the training they receive here,” Deal said.
The National Residency Matching Program, with the results released each year during the third week of March, is the main pathway by which most medical school graduates enter their residency training under the supervision of veteran physicians.
Students in the Class of 2008, who will receive their medical degrees on May 10, accepted residency positions in 33 states, including Indiana. Among the Match Day highlights:
- 49 percent of the students will pursue at least part of their residencies within Indiana
- 94 students will be residents at IU Hospital, Riley Hospital for Children, other Clarian Health facilities, Wishard Health Services and the Roudebush VA Medical Center
- 45 percent of IU School of Medicine graduates will enter primary-care programs, which includes internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, primary internal medicine and combined internal medicine-pediatrics
The IU School of Medicine, the second largest medical school in the United States with more than 1,200 students, has nine medical education centers throughout the state for first- and second-year students. IU medical education centers are located in Gary (IU-Northwest), Bloomington (IU campus), Evansville (University of Southern Indiana), Terre Haute (Indiana State University), South Bend (University of Notre Dame), West Lafayette (Purdue University), Fort Wayne (Indiana University-Purdue University campus), Muncie (Ball State University), and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
All IU School of Medicine students complete their final two years of study at the IUPUI campus. Students receive clinical training in that time, in addition to further classroom and laboratory studies.
Additional information the National Resident Matching Program can be found at www.nrmp.org.