UI Carver College of Medicine graduates find out where they’re going next

Medical students graduating from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine gathered in the atrium of the college’s Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF) this morning, filled with anticipation as they waited to see where they would spend their residency.

Today is Match Day—the day when more than 30,000 medical school graduates around the world learn where they will be doing their residencies. The students created a field of hospitals and centers where they’d like to work, interviewed at many of them, and then ranked them according to their preference, according to the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP).

On the flip side, directors of residency programs at those institutions create a similar list—theirs ranking the candidates according to the program’s preference. The lists of both the candidates and the programs are entered into a computer, and an algorithm creates a “match,” putting candidates with programs.

The numbers

Among this year's graduating class of 138 students, 36 percent (49 students) chose primary care specialties, which include family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics. There were 11 matches in family medicine programs, 17 in internal medicine, 11 in obstetrics and gynecology, and 10 in pediatrics.

Among this year's graduates, 38 will remain in Iowa for their first year of postgraduate training, and 28 of these 38 students will train next year at UI Hospitals and Clinics.

Geographically, the most popular state after Iowa for first-year training was California, with 13 graduating students beginning their residencies there. Minnesota will receive 11 UI graduates, and Illinois will receive 10.

This year's match results, including individual results by name, state, and specialty, will be available on the Match Week webpage. 

The National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) helps place graduating medical students in such programs. Most of the students who will earn medical degrees at the UI this year (129 of the 138 students) participated in the NRMP. Five students obtained residency appointments outside of the NRMP, and four graduating seniors have deferred their residency training.