As Match Day quickly approaches, Dr. Hal B. Jenson doesn’t hold back when he talks about his expectations for what will be a life-changing event for students in the MD Class of 2019.
“Our goal is a 100 percent Match,” Dr. Jenson said recently.
If that goal is met, it will mirror the results of last year’s Match Day for the medical school’s inaugural Class of 2018. And, given the feedback he has received from residency program directors across the country, Dr. Jenson said he believes students in the Class of 2018 set a strong foundation for success in the Match for each and every student that will follow in their footsteps.
“I’ve received very positive feedback from individuals at other residency programs who interviewed our students. They remarked about how well prepared our students were and how competitive they were for residency positions,” Dr. Jenson said. “They said our students really stood out because of their thoroughness of training and maturity, even among students from more established schools and especially among students from new schools.”
With all of that in mind, Dr. Jenson said he is filled with excitement and optimism for students in the Class of 2019 as they prepare for Match Day. The big day is a time-honored event held at medical schools across the country. It represents a culmination for medical students as they learn where they will spend the next three or more years in residency training.
Match Day for the Class of 2019 will be held on Friday, March 15, 2019, at the Air Zoo in Portage. On Saturday, May 11, 2019, the students will graduate from WMed during a ceremony at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo that will be open to the public.
After Match Day and graduation, WMed students will begin residency training in July in their specialty, training as residents in a clinical setting under the supervision of fully licensed physicians.
Dr. Jenson said he is looking forward to welcoming new residents from WMed and across the country who will match with the medical school’s nine residency programs and begin their residency training in Kalamazoo in July. As was the case last year, Dr. Jenson said he is optimistic that each open residency training slot at WMed will be filled again this year.
The Main Residency Match is an annual process that begins in the fall for applicants, usually in the final year of medical school, when they apply to residency programs at which they would like to train. Program directors review applications and conduct candidate interviews in the fall and early winter. From mid-January to late February, applicants submit to the National Residency Match 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.
The Match is a process that Dr. Jenson knows well. He served on the Board of Directors for the NRMP for 10 years, including a stint as chair of the Board from 2013 to 2015 when he led the implementation of what is known as the “all-in rule.” He guided the workgroup that brought about eliminating the Scramble in 2012 and transformed it into the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP).
Dr. Jenson said he understands that the anticipation for Match Day and all that it entails for students’ futures can cause some apprehension and anxiety. Still, he said it is important for students, as well as the entire WMed community, to recognize and celebrate the success of what is a significant milestone for the Class of 2019.
“Completing medical school and taking that next step into residency, all of it is such a great achievement,” Dr. Jenson said. “To our students, my admonition is to keep calm and Match on."
“Medicine is a special profession, one where we get the privilege to serve patients who let us be a part of their lives. In turn, we get a chance to affect people’s lives in a way that is unmatched and so rewarding,” Dr. Jenson added. “Being a physician is not just a job or a profession, it is a special calling. When we keep our patients and our patients’ welfare at the center of it all, it serves to constantly remind us why we do what we do.”