Match Day a different kind of 'March Madness'
The basketball court wasn't the only place where "March Madness" tipped off on Thursday.
It was also Match Day for 131 University of Louisville medical students as they opened their envelopes from the National Residency Match Program to find where they had been matched for residency training.
The Match, conducted annually by the NRMP, uses a computerized algorithm designed to the best results by aligning the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency programs. The results are used to fill thousands of training positions available in the United States.
"I am very pleased that we had so many students who are choosing to pursue careers in internal medicine," Dr. Barbara Casper, Vice Chair of Education and director if U of L's Internal Medicine Residency Program said. "I think that speaks highly of the quality of the experience that they have during their rotations in our department as well as the recognition of what a rewarding career internal medicine can be.
"I am equally pleased that several students chose to stay in Louisville for their internal medicine training. Overall, our students had an outstanding match and I know they will be excellent ambassadors for U of L regardless of where they train."
Among the U of L graduates who obtained a position, 46 graduates are entering primary care training if the fields of family medicine, internal medicine, medicine/pediatrics, pediatrics or preliminary medicine.
Overall, 29 percent of matched students will remain in Louisville for at least the initial year of their training while six graduates will remain within Kentucky but outside of the metro area. Another 87 graduates will go out-of-state while one plans to return to Louisville following their first year of training.
The department's Internal Medicine Residency Program filled all of its positions with top candidates as did the Med/Peds Training Program.
"We are truly excited about the incoming residents," Dr. Jesse Roman, Chairman of the U of L Department of Medicine said. "This is a strong group of residents who will benefit from an extraordinary patient care and research enterprise that focuses on education."
The most popular specialty this year was internal medicine with 24 matching students followed by anesthesiology with 12 and general surgery with 10.
Twelve U of L students matched early for positions either through the military or in ophthalmology or urology, which have early matching options while 114 matched on Thursday.
"This year's success was due to many factors, but mainly due to the involvement of our faculty who participated in all recruitment activities," Casper said. "Dr. Chris Sweeney, Director of the Med/Peds Training Program, was also excited because, as he says, 'We have attracted yet another group of talented residents for the Med/Peds Program which emphasizes primary care for the whole family.'"
