The medical field’s own unique version of March Madness broke out all over the world today, as medical students around the globe learned, in one simultaneous moment, where they will begin their careers in as MDs-in-training.
The madness included Hawaiʻi, at the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), where 59 members of the class of 2014 ripped open the sealed envelopes which revealed where they matched into residency training programs.
In the months leading up to today, each student has interviewed at multiple post-graduate training programs, making a list of the top three places they’d like to go to learn their specialties. Every post-MD training programs in North America has also made their lists of whom they would most like to accept into their programs. A computer matches the students with the programs on this single, emotion-filled day called Match Day.
Shortly after 6 a.m., before the envelopes were opened, Class President Ken Ortiz sought to lighten the mood, which was a tense combination of excitement and stressful anticipation. “This is like the NFL Draft for nerds,” he said, to much laughter.
- Continuing reading on UHMedNow: UH Medical Students Meet their Match
