On Match Day, Students Reflect on UCSF’s Culture of Innovation and Commitment to Advancing Research
March 15, 9:00 am, Match Day 2019, UCSF School of Medicine
Match Making History
After four years of classes, clinics and exams, 169 UCSF School of Medicine students will graduate and embark on the next phase of their medical careers this May.
At 9 a.m. Pacific Time on March 15, students broke the seals on their match envelopes and the Millberry Union was filled with exclamations of joy and relief, as students learned where they will spend the next three to seven years in residency training programs.
Match Day is part of a tradition that takes place annually on the third Friday of March, with medical school students across the country learning their residency placements as part of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).
This year’s match was the largest on record. In 2019, 18,925 graduating allopathic medical students from across the country and 16,561 graduating international and osteopathic medical students, as well as Americans studying abroad, competed for some 35,000 residency positions, the most ever offered in Match history, according to the NRMP.
The matching process began last spring when students decided on their specialties, registered and submitted applications. They interviewed throughout the winter and in February submitted a ranking of their choices, based on their desired specialty and geographic location. In fall, residency programs reviewed applications and invited shortlist candidates to interview, and then created their own rankings in advance of Match Day.
