Pictured above: Lori Tam matched with Brigham & Women's Hospital at Harvard in internal medicine. Sarah Green attained a spot in pediatric residency program in the OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital.
On March 15, a record number of medical school seniors - about 15,000 - participated in "Match Day" ceremonies nationwide. Compared to 2006, this was an increase of nearly 200 students competing for residencies through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). The increase reflects overall growth in medical school enrollment, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
At OHSU, there was also an increase in the number of seniors participating in the NRMP due to expanding class size. Last year, 93 OHSU students participated. This year, of the 119 graduating seniors, 106 participated in Match Day, two elected to move directly to a research career path, and 11 were matched outside of NRMP by the military and the San Francisco subspecialty match.
Fifty-two of the OHSU participants matched to residencies in primary care, in contrast to national trends where fewer students are selecting primary care. The largest group, at 30 students, matched in internal medicine, followed by 20 in family medicine and 11 in pediatrics, with eight each in emergency medicine and anesthesiology.
Thirty-three students will remain in Oregon with 22 at OHSU. Forty-six students will train in other western states, 15 in the Midwest, 18 in the Northeast and five in the South. Four students were initially unmatched in the NRMP, but they easily placed in residencies within an hour of the initial results.
From the perspective of OHSU residency programs, Match Day was also a success. Of the approximately 200 positions, all but three surgeries and one research position were filled. While it varies by specialty, OHSU receives about 5 to 100 applications for each available residency position.
