Medical students discover where they’ll hone their skills

The envelopes, please.

More than 130 University of Virginia medical students crowded the old medical school auditorium Thursday, waiting for high noon to find their places in American medicine.

The students were part of Match Day, a nationwide, computerized process that assigns fourth-year students to residency programs across the country. There, they’ll learn specialties such as orthopedic surgery, dermatology and urology.

“I want to stay here for pretty much the same reasons that I came here,” said Doug Gallo, prior to meeting his match. Gallo is studying emergency medicine.

“I like the school, the faculty and the town. [Charlottesville] is a nice, clean, medium-size town with a disproportionately large number of things to do for a town of its size.”

Gallo said he’d have no problem with any of his top three choices, including UVa, the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, Mass., and East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C.

“They’re all good. I’ll be happy with any of them,” he said.

Match Day, which occurs at the same time in medical schools across the country, caps four years of study.

“The match was set up to be in the best interest of the students,” said Susan Kirk, the designated institutional official for UVa’s residency program and assistant dean for graduate medical education. “It’s sort of like the NFL draft, but in this case the team with the worst record doesn’t get first pick and all of the picks are announced at once.”

Students rank the six medical programs they wish to attend in order of preference. The programs rank the students the same way. A complicated algorithm that only a computer scientist could love, sorts everything out.

Amit Phull has spent nine years at UVa, studying computer science and receiving his undergraduate degree before attending medical school. He said he’s ready to move to a bigger city.

“I’m ready to give it a shot,” the emergency medicine specialist said. “I want to live in the city and experience the work pace. I applied to programs in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., and we’ll see how it goes.”

About 65 percent of students get their first choice and 90 percent get one of their top three, said Richard Pearson, assistant dean of student affairs. He said about 7 percent don’t match for a variety of reasons and are assigned schools in what officials call The Scramble.

“Residency is when you go from being a doctor to being a specialist,” Pearson said. “The students are really excited because they’re going to be doctors, they’re going to work in a program with more independence and, yet, more guidance. We, in the programs, are excited to get students who we’ll work with for the next three to five years to really hone their skills.”

Anjan Kaushik wants to be an orthopedic surgeon, particularly in pediatrics and specifically at UVa.

“I’m hoping to stay here because I get to work with a great group of doctors and surgeons,” he said prior to learning his match. “I’ve had plenty of experiences both in practical medicine and research. I enjoyed the technical aspect of research, but I’m tending toward the practical aspect right now.”

There are about 17,000 medical students in the U.S. preparing each year to enter a residency program. There are about 26,000 residencies available, officials said. UVa has 750 residents in 64 major programs.

“Each program is trying for the best medical students they can attract. We encourage that. We don’t say, ‘We’ve got good students in pediatrics, let’s focus on cardiac,’” Kirk said. “We’re looking for good grades, membership in the National Honor Society of medical students and good test scores, but just as important is the type of person and personality and whether they are team players.”

They’ll soon find out. At 11:30 a.m., students cheered, yelled and laughed as medical school personnel handed out the envelopes. Then, just after noon, in a deafening din of shouts, screams and laughter, the envelopes were torn asunder.

Phull got his chance to practice in Chicago at Northwestern University, his first choice. Kaushik will learn orthopedic surgery at UVa, also his first choice.

“I’ve always felt that I wanted to live in a bigger city for awhile and I’m excited to get that chance,” Phull said. “I really liked Chicago and the program.”

“I’m excited. I know the faculty and the program well and I’ll be close to family in Richmond at a time when being close is important,” Kaushik said.

Gallo’s residency will be served at his third choice, ECU.

“It’s a good school and a good program and I liked Greenville a lot. I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’m very pleased.”