Match Day Ceremony for UA Medical Students March 16

Nearly 120 medical students in the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson will learn where they will complete the next phase of their medical training at this year’s Match Day ceremony at 10 a.m. On March 16. Surrounded by classmates, family and friends, the students simultaneously will tear open envelopes at 10 a.m. revealing where they will begin their careers as physicians. It is a nationwide celebration that represents a culmination of four arduous years of medical school.

“Match Day is probably the most emotional and impactful day of medical school,” said Kevin Moynahan, MD, deputy dean for education at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson. “Each student’s journey to this point has been an individual story, and I’m proud to have shared some of that journey with them.”

Medical students cannot select where they will go for their residency training. During their last year of medical school, students select institutions where they aspire to train and apply to interview for a residency slot there. Students later rank their residency location preferences, while institutions rank the students they would like to have as trainees. The match process then is completed by the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). Fourth-year medical students across the nation learn their match results at coordinated ceremonies that occur each year on the same date (the third Friday in March) and at the same time (1 p.m. Eastern time). Medical students are obligated to go to the institution to which they have been matched.

The Class of 2018 is made up of nearly 120 medical students, ranging from 25 to 51 years old. Two students are on track to earn an MD-PhD degree and three are set to earn an MD-MPH degree. Sixty-two students are female and 58 are male.