It’s a (Residency) Match!

Geisel Students Take Next Step in Their Medical Journeys on Match Day

Hanover, NH—At the much-anticipated annual Match Day event today, 87 students at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine learned where they will pursue their next three to seven years of residency training after graduation. Nationally, more than 17,000 graduating U.S. allopathic medical school seniors and 16,000 others participated in this year's match program.

"What an incredibly exciting day," said Wiley Souba, MD, MBA, ScD, dean of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. "This is the first Dartmouth MD student class that I have seen through all four years as dean of the medical school, and I am extremely proud of all of them. I know that as they begin their residencies at some of the finest institutions in our region and across the U.S., they will excel as physician leaders who will improve many lives."

Every year, fourth-year medical students across the country submit their top choices for residency programs into a computer program operated by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). Residency programs also submit lists of applicants in their order of preference. The lists are then compared against each other using the AAMC's computer algorithm, matching students to their residency program.

Reinforcing Geisel's rise to #18 in the 2015 US News & World Report Best Medical Schools Primary Care ranking, primary care was the most popular specialty choice among Geisel students, with 42 (48.3 percent of the class) choosing residencies in family medicine, internal medicine or pediatrics. Emergency medicine, anesthesiology, and obstetrics and gynecology were the next most sought-after specialties. Residency locations ranged from primary care programs at Yale, Cambridge (MA) Health Alliance, California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, the University of Washington, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, to residency specialties at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, the Cleveland Clinic, New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell, and at Stanford University, among many others.

"I am grateful for the many amazing primary care experiences I have had at Geisel that have reinforced my decision to pursue my residency in family medicine," said Karl Dietrich, fourth-year Geisel student, who learned today that he successfully matched in a family residency at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island in Pawtucket, RI. "From doctors in the community to those practicing at Dartmouth, I have had great mentors in primary care and have seen its versatility and the tremendous impact it has on patients.

"In this era of ongoing healthcare reform and the implementation of the Accountable Care Act, primary care will become an even more indispensable part of our healthcare system. It's been empowering to see so many people - clinicians, physician-scientists, and administrators - advocating for more training in primary care and care for underserved populations," said Dietrich.