Last Friday, small envelopes containing big news were handed out at the Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge. During Match Day 2014, med students at Stanford and around the country learned where they would be paired to begin residency, and thus the next phase of their lives and careers. My colleague Tracie White was on the scene when Stanford students opened their letters. She reports:
The 81 students matched in 19 different disciplines in a total of 15 different states. California topped that list with 17 percent of all the graduating students.
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Seventy percent of the 81 students matched with their first choice and 90 percent with one of their top three choices. At the top of the list for medical specialties was internal medicine, with 19 students. Pediatrics came in second, with nine students."It was a long, painful process," said Kevin Chi, his shaking hands holding the letter that told him he had matched in pediatrics at Stanford, his first choice. He hugged fellow student Tania Rezai, who had matched to a family medicine residency in Santa Rosa.
Kira and Erick Westbroeks, pictured above with their baby, will be moving to Baltimore; Erick Westbroek matched in neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.
Previously: Matching into family medicine, Image of the Week: Match Day 2013, My parents don’t think I’m smart enough for family medicine: One medical student’s story, Match Day 2012 decides medical students’ next steps and A match made in heaven? Medical students await their fate
Photo of the Westbroeks by Norbert von der Groeben