Match Day represents another step in medical journey
By Dana Benson
On March 19, fourth-year medical students around the country, including 151 students at Baylor College of Medicine, learned where they will be continuing their medical training.
Match Day concluded the annual National Residents Matching Program, which pairs fourth-year medical students with residency programs throughout the nation.
At BCM, students and their families congregated at the new courtyard on campus and counted down the seconds until 11 a.m., when they rushed the match board for the envelop bearing their name.
Match for all
The moments that followed brought happiness and, for some perhaps, disappointment that they did not get their top choices. But Donald Donovan, M.D., senior associate dean of student affairs, pointed out that all fourth-year students at BCM matched, no simple feat in today's competitive environment.
Match Day represented a culmination of years of hard work and, for many, was another step in the fulfillment of a long-time dream. One of those students was John Felder.
He was just a teenager when he was involved in a boating accident that left his leg severely injured. During his recovery, he met a plastic surgeon who, Felder recalls, always had a smile on his face and a joke to make Felder smile as well. It was this surgeon who inspired Felder to become a doctor.
During medical school, when Felder couldn't figure out what specialty he wanted to go into, he visited his plastic surgeon friend again and was inspired to pursue a career in plastic surgery. On Match Day, Felder learned that he will be going to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., for his residency – his top choice.
Consider BCM 'home'
Perhaps one day Felder will be the inspiration behind a young person's decision to go into medicine or pursue a particular specialty. For now though, he shares in the excitement of his fourth-year peers as they prepare for the next step in their medical journey.
For some, like Felder, that journey will take them to other institutions and other parts of the country. Others – 47, to be exact – will stay right here at Baylor College of Medicine. But Donovan encouraged students to always think of Baylor College of Medicine as home.
"I'm sure you'll all be happy with the next leg of your journey," Donovan said. "But I do want you to think of Baylor as your home educationally for life, whether you stay with us or go off to other things. This is a place we want you to return to."
