EVENT CANCELLED In effort to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19
On Friday, March 20, OU College of Medicine students from the Class of 2020 will learn where they are going for their residency training during a tradition called Match Day.
After several months of applying and interviewing for residency positions, medical students across the United States discover, simultaneously, where they have matched for their residencies. The reveal takes place each year at noon on the third Friday of March. Students on the Oklahoma City campus will hold their Match Day ceremony at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tulsa campus students will hold their event at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa.
Match Day marks a quick turnaround for medical students. After graduating from medical school in May, the newly minted doctors begin their residencies on July 1, in training programs that last from three to seven years. Some students stay at the OU College of Medicine for their residencies, but many match at health systems across the United States.
The OU College of Medicine admits a class of 165 students each year; approximately 140 undergo their education on the Oklahoma City campus and 25 on the branch campus in Tulsa, the OU-TU School of Community Medicine.
The process of matching with a residency program begins early in the fourth year of medical school; students apply through the National Resident Matching Program in their chosen specialties of medicine. The process, much like applying for a job, allows them to rank their location choices in order of preference. Over several months, they go to interviews at hospitals and other healthcare sites around the United States; the interviewers, in turn, rank their preferred candidates. The National Resident Matching Program uses a computerized algorithm to align the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency program directors.
OU College of Medicine students have historically done very well in the Match process, earning prestigious positions at health systems across the nation and at home. As part of the state’s flagship university, the OU College of Medicine trains the majority of physicians who practice in Oklahoma.