On Friday, March 21, medical students at the School of Medicine Columbia, and at medical schools across the country, celebrated as they learned where they matched for their residency appointment, signifying the next step in their career in medicine. The big reveal occurs at noon ET each year on the third Friday in March. Following the reveal, 99 percent of the SOMC Class of 2025 matched with a residency program.
The Match Process
The Match process is part of a larger transition in medical education. Students apply to, and interview with a number of residency programs during their fourth year of medical school. The National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) provides the mechanism through the Registration, Ranking and Results System for applicants and programs to then enter rank order lists of their preferences. The NRMP uses a mathematical algorithm to match applicants and programs to their most preferred ranked choices.
The School of Medicine Columbia Reveal
Medical students at the School of Medicine Columbia participated in an interactive and fun reveal event, which was held at Central Energy in the BullStreet District in Downtown Columbia. Upon entry, the students collected a boarding pass for departure on 'SOMC Air,' which led them to their airport destination - Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Greenville or Charleston - and their seat location at each departure gate. When the countdown clock hit zero, paper airplanes descended from the balcony above, delivering their match day results. Students also watched an instructional video from interim dean Gerald Harmon, MD, prior to finding their seat, and associate dean for student affairs, Eric Williams, MD, was also featured in a video for instructions at the gate.
South Carolina Impact
Twenty-six students will stay in the state of South Carolina for their residency appointments. Those students will begin their careers at Prisma Midlands, Lexington Medical Center, MUSC, Prisma Greenville, AnMed, Grand Strand and Trident.
By The Numbers
Thirty-seven School of Medicine Columbia students matched into a primary care residency program, including 17 students in internal medicine, 14 in pediatrics, five in family medicine and one in internal medicine/pediatrics. Additionally, 15 students matched into emergency medicine, five into both anesthesiology and pathology, and four into orthopaedic surgery. Overall, SOMC students will begin their residencies across the country in 18 states and the District of Columbia.
What They’re Saying
“Events such as Match Day for our fourth-year medical students provide a lasting legacy for them as they embark on their careers as physicians," School of Medicine Columbia interim dean Gerald Harmon, MD, says. "Today they learned precisely what type of specialist they will train to become, and where they will begin the next phase of their rewarding careers."