Annually on the third Friday in March—one of the most anticipated, emotional, and celebrated days of their medical education—thousands of fourth-year medical students across the U.S. simultaneously learn where they will spend their residency training, marking a career defining milestone.
On Friday, March 17, Geisel School of Medicine medical students gathered with family and friends at the Lebanon Opera House to celebrate this momentous event signaling their transition to residency.
In welcoming everyone to Match Day, Geisel Dean Duane A. Compton, PhD, began by expressing his delight in seeing those who unwaveringly supported the medical students on their journey, his gratitude for the dedicated faculty, staff, and alumni who helped the future physicians reach this important goal, and the medical school community’s pride in sharing this moment.
“On behalf of everyone at Geisel, we are incredibly grateful that each of you chose to attend our school, and that you committed yourselves to our small community and contributed to it with gusto,” Compton said. “I am genuinely humbled by your dedication to improve the lives of others through a career in medicine and healthcare that will take you far beyond the borders of our small town.”
Senior Associate Dean Sonia Chimienti, MD, spoke of gratitude—for each other and for mentors who helped along the way. “Each of you is here today because of the support of a mentor,” she said. “None of us reaches our goals in life without the support of others. So, in this spirit of gratitude I leave you with an Irish proverb.”
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!
Delivering the traditional class toast, Maura Doré’ 23, thanked “everyone in our lives for supporting, teaching, and guiding us to this amazing milestone.” She also recognized her classmates as brilliant, talented, inspiring, and compassionate.
Photos by Rob Strong
“I hope we can all bring a touch of the resiliency and community we found here at Dartmouth t our residency programs. And in the words of Taylor Swift, ‘long story short, we survived!’” Moments later, the Class of 2023 simultaneously opened their envelopes and learned where they will begin residency. Following shouts of joy, students individually shared their residency destinations and thank those who helped them reach this important milestone.
The Match® is an intense process where medical students submit their residency choices via a computer program managed by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP)—residency programs also submit lists of applicants in order of preference. The lists are then compared against each other utilizing the NRMP’s computer algorithm, matching students to their residency program. This year, 48,156 applicants registered for the Main Residency Match, with 42,952 of those applicants who certified a rank order list vying for a record 40,375 certified residency positions—outpacing last year’s Match.
Primary care, which includes residencies in family medicine, internal medicine, internal medicine-primary care, and pediatrics, remained strong among Geisel students. Obstetrics and Gynecology, and psychiatry were the next most popular specialties. California, Massachusetts, and New York remained the most popular destinations.
Congratulations to Geisel’s Class of 2023 who matched into some of the most prestigious residency programs in the U.S.—Massachusetts General Hospital, Yale-New Haven Hospital, and Johns Hopkins, among others. The 2023 Match list is available here (NetID required).
You can watch a highlight video of the Match Day 2023 event here:
And if you want to catch all the excitement, you may watch the full Match Day 2023 event video here:
