Students from the UAB Heersink School of Medicine gathered on Friday, March 17, 2023, to celebrate this year’s Match Day. The 2023 graduating class, seated with family and friends, learned shortly before 11 a.m. that 100 percent of them matched into residency positions around the United States. The announcement, delivered by Nicholas Van Wagoner, M.D., associate dean for students, was met with applause.
After several minutes of anticipation, emails from the National Resident Matching Program began populating students' inboxes around the auditorium. The auditorium filled with excitement as life-long dreams became a reality.
Edgar Soto, who matched into plastic surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, was thrilled to receive his email confirmation and reflected on the long road that led him to Match Day. “I’m the first person in my family to graduate high school,” he said. “I found mentors along the way here at UAB that pushed me to be the best that I can be.”
Several students used the word “culmination” to describe the moment of receiving their match results. Soto said, “This is just the culmination of a lifelong dream that I’ve had to take care of patients, and it’s an honor to be training for it.”
Kelley Jiang was admitted into UAB’s Early Medical School Acceptance Program (EMSAP) in high school. Having completed the four-year EMSAP, Jiang will now complete the next stage of medical studies at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, matching in anesthesiology. “It is the culmination of everything we’ve worked for the past four years.”
Shortly after 11 a.m., students were given the opportunity to walk to the podium on stage and announce their match in front of the audience of supporters. These moments were met with applause and cries of celebration. A handful of students even waited until taking the stage to discover their matches, adding to the excitement in the room when they learned the direction of their future in front of everyone. After announcing their matches, students signed a map of the United States, placing their names in the specific state of their future institution.
In this year’s match cycle, UAB students are entering residency positions at 78 institutions across 31 states nationwide. For primary care residencies, 22 students matched in internal medicine, 19 in family medicine, 11 in pediatrics, and four in medicine-pediatrics. For non-primary care residencies, 16 students matched in surgery, 11 in neurology, and 10 in anesthesiology. Other non-primary care medical specialties included nine students, each matching in emergency medicine and obstetrics/gynecology; seven in orthopaedic surgery; six each in dermatology, diagnostic radiology, and psychiatry; three students in ophthalmology and preliminary surgery; two each in child neurology, neurological surgery, otolaryngology, physical medicine & rehabilitation, radiation oncology, and urology; and one student each matched in internal medicine/research, interventional radiology (integrated), neurodevelopmental disabilities, orthopaedic surgery/research, pathology, plastic surgery, preliminary medicine, thoracic surgery, transitional, and vascular surgery.
The event ended with the students, friends, and family congregating in the lobby of the Alys Stephens Center to share congratulations. The community element of Match Day was exhibited throughout this celebration.
Lynne Obiaka, who matched in family medicine at St. Vincent’s East in Birmingham, described the matching process as a journey. “Match Day represents your hopes, your dreams, your ambitions, kind of coalescing to produce destiny.”
View the recording of the Match Day live stream and see the full match results online at uab.edu/matchday. Learn more about making a gift to the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.