‘Years in the making’: FSU College of Medicine’s graduating students celebrate Match Day
As Florida State University’s College of Medicine celebrated the nationwide event known as Match Day, over a hundred of its graduating medical students got the official word on where they will receive residency training.
Shouts of joy, happy tears and group hugs filled FSU's Ruby Diamond Concert Hall Friday afternoon as students simultaneously tore open their envelopes, reading their letters with loved ones about where they will practice for the next several years in their chosen medical specialty.
“This moment has been years in the making, filled with countless hours of studying and sacrifice,” said FSU medical student Nicholas Thomas, who will be practicing orthopedic surgery.
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Thomas waited until he got on stage to anxiously open his letter, where he happily found out he matched at his No. 1 choice — Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee — and confidently pulled out a VU hat from his jacket’s inner pocket to place it on his head.
Match Day falls on the third Friday of March every year.
Students who will soon receive their doctor of medicine degrees from over 150 medical schools across the nation got their match information through the National Resident Matching Program, which is the primary system that matches applicants to residency programs at teaching hospitals in the country.
A total of 109 students matched from FSU’s six regional campuses, which are located in Tallahassee, Daytona Beach, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Pensacola and Sarasota.
This year, 49 out of the 109 graduating medical students are staying in Florida to begin their residency training — a little over 45%.
As efforts are being made to keep students in the state during an ongoing shortage of professionals in the medical field, Florida’s opportunities for graduates are growing as more programs are being added throughout the state — including FSU’s new psychiatry residency program in partnership with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) and Apalachee Center that starts in July.
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Some of the locations in Florida where students matched include TMH and HCA Florida Capital Hospital in the capital city, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Holy Cross Hospital through the University of Miami, University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville and AdventHealth Orlando.
Among the students — including many who matched at their top choice — are several who matched at teaching hospitals outside of Florida as far as New York, Wisconsin, Colorado, Tennessee and Washington, D.C.
A few of the students’ announcements were made by couples as most of the FSU lovebirds found out they were officially matched at the same teaching hospitals or in the same city.
FSU medical students Sarah Ripps and Roei Golan are a couple that matched at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital to begin their residency programs, where Ripps will train in obstetrics-gynecology while Golan will be training in urology.
The Friday ceremony was also live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook, where family and friends both near and far virtually shared the defining moment with the students — including the grandmother of FSU medical student Sheena Chege, who watched from Kenya in East Africa.
Chege announced that she matched at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where she will train in pediatrics.
After all the announcements were made, FSU's College of Medicine Interim Dean Alma Littles congratulated the Class of 2024 medical students on their hard work and success in securing residency positions.
“I know you will continue to make us proud, and I look forward to seeing you and your families at your regional campus centers and back here for your graduation in May,” Littles told the students.
The College of Medicine’s spring commencement ceremony for students earning their doctor of medicine degree will take place Friday, May 3 at 9 a.m. and will include faculty hooding.
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU medical students get matched with residency programs on Match Day
