As each sealed envelope was opened on Friday, students in the medical school’s Class of 2023 learned where their journeys as new physicians would take them next.
It was a moment filled with anticipation and excitement as the clock struck noon at the Radisson Plaza Hotel at Kalamazoo Center where the more than 70 students who make up WMed’s sixth MD class gathered with family and friends to take part in the time-honored event known as Match Day.
"Congratulations to all of you," WMed Dean Paula M. Termuhlen, MD, told the students.
With Match Day, the Class of 2023 joined students from other medical schools across the country on Friday, March 17, to learn where they will spend the next three or more years in residency training. The festivities were a culmination for WMed’s fourth-year students as they each learned their future plans.
As the students waited to open their envelopes, they greeted one another with smiles and nervous chatter filled the main ballroom at the Radisson.
Students and their guests were able to enjoy light snacks and they heard remarks from Dr. Termuhlen, as well as Keven Kavanaugh, MD, assistant dean for Career Development, and M4 Ainsley McWiliams. There were also plenty of opportunities to capture photos at the Radisson with WMed backdrops and the Match Day pin map. Students also got the chance to take the stage to share their Match results with guests at the event, as well as on Facebook Live.
Just before they opened their Match Day envelopes at noon, students also got the chance to see this year’s Match Day envelope video, which was developed by the Class of 2023 Student Council leaders.
"Enjoy this moment in time," McWilliams told her classmates. "You are all amazing future physicians. We’re ready for this."
Key Highlights from this year’s Match
- 99% of the students in the Class of 2023 matched to a residency slot as part of a nationwide process that is increasingly competitive.
- Five students from the Class of 2023 matched to residency slots at WMed and will complete their training in Kalamazoo in the specialties of Family Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Psychiatry. They will join the 200-plus physicians-in-training in the medical school’s 15 residency and fellowship programs.
- 15 students will remain in Michigan for residency, working in hospitals in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Garden City, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Lansing.
- 37 students will complete their training in a specialty that could lead to a career in primary care.
- One student is the recipient of a scholarship from the F. Edward Hébert Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) and will complete their residency training at a military medical center.
- WMed students will train in residency programs in 25 different states across the US.
The students will complete their training in the following specialties and programs:
Anesthesiology
- University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, Washington
- University of California Davis Medical Center, California
Diagnostic Radiology
- Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles, California
- New York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center, New York
- University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson, Arizona
Emergency Medicine
- Thomas Jefferson University, Pennsylvania
- University of California Irvine Medical Center, California
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Tennessee
Family Medicine
- Allina Health, Minnesota
- The Christ Hospital, Ohio
- Memorial Hospital, Indiana
- North Country HealthCare, Arizona
- Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon
- St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, Indiana
- St. Mary's Medical Center SCL Health, Colorado
- Sparrow Health System, Michigan
- Spectrum Health/Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Michigan
- Trinity Health St. Mary's-Grand Rapids, Michigan
- University of Minnesota Medical School, Minnesota
- WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, Michigan
- Wisconsin Northern and Central Graduate Medical Education Consortium, Wisconsin
General Surgery
- Baylor University Medical Center, Texas
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, New Hampshire
- Garden City Hospital, Michigan
- Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia
- Spectrum Health/Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Michigan
- University of California San Francisco East Bay, California
- University of Kentucky Medical Center, Kentucky
- WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, Michigan
Internal Medicine
- Allegheny General Hospital, Pennsylvania
- Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina
- Kettering Health Network, Ohio
- Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, Oregon
- LewisGale Medical Center, Virginia
- Loyola University Medical Center, Illinois
- Marshfield Clinic, Wisconsin
- Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, Arizona
- Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, Florida
- Mountain Area Health Education Center, North Carolina
- NCH Healthcare System, Florida
- Ohio State University Medical Center, Ohio
- Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, California
- Riverside Community Hospital, California
- Thomas Jefferson University, Pennsylvania
- UCSF Fresno, California
- University of Illinois College of Medicine, Illinois
- University of Southern California, California
- University of Tennessee Ascension St. Thomas, Tennessee
Medicine-Pediatrics
- Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University School of Medicine, Michigan
- Spectrum Health/Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Michigan
Neurology
- Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina
- University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, Washington
- Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Maryland
- West Virginia University School of Medicine, West Virginia
Obstetrics and Gynecology
- University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Ohio
- WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, Michigan
Ophthalmology
- Loyola University/Hine VA Hospital, Illinois
Orthopaedic Surgery
- University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Wisconsin
Pathology
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, California
- Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, California
- University of Michigan Hospitals, Michigan
- University of Rochester/Strong Memorial, New York
Pediatrics
- Case Western Reserve University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Ohio
- Children's Hospital, California
- Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, Wisconsin
- Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon
- University of Michigan Hospitals, Michigan
Pediatrics/Psychiatry/Child Psychiatry
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Ohio
Psychiatry
- Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University School of Medicine, Michigan
- Maimonides Medical Center, New York
- Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, Wisconsin
- New York Medical College Metropolitan Hospital Center, New York
- Tulane University School of Medicine, Louisiana
- WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, Michigan
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
- Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, Wisconsin
The 2023 Main Residency Match process began in the summer of 2022 for fourth-year students at WMed and other medical students across the country as they prepared applications to residency programs at which they wanted to train. As part of the process, program directors review applications and conduct candidate interviews in the fall and early winter. During the month of February, applicants submitted to the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) their rank order lists of preferred programs, and program directors rank applicants in order of preference for training. The NRMP uses a computerized mathematical algorithm to match applicants with programs using the preferences expressed on their rank lists.
As they look ahead, students in the Class of 2023 will complete the final months of the fourth-year curriculum at WMed, which culminates in May with a commencement ceremony at WMU’s Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo. The event, which is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 11, 2023, is open to the public and tickets are not required.