SALT LAKE CITY – It’s the moment medical students all around the country wait for – Match Day.
Match Day is a rite of passage for graduating University of Utah medical students. They opened residency letters to find out where they’ll be spending the next few years.
Seventy-two University of Utah medical students close one chapter and begin a new one, once they open a white envelope.
“They find out what kind of doctor they're going to be, whether it's gonna be a pediatrician, surgeon, anesthesiologist,” said Vivian Lee, Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Utah.
Many students have been anxiously awaiting the big day.
“This morning I woke up around 6 and couldn't think about anything else,” Bridger Bach said.
“I was shaking; I was really nervous,” Erin Anastadt said.
Students have their wish list regarding which school they would like to attend.
“My top three was first Duke, then OHSU, then Virginia Mason up in Seattle,” Bach said.
But there’s no guarantee that’s where they’ll end up. Although, many still got their wish.
“University of Washington,” said Liz Schackmann.
“I got Pitt, number one choice,” Anastadt said.
“The letter says Duke,” shouted Bach.
Bach’s fiancée, Chelsea Naisbett, is a nurse. She’s ready for their new life.
“I am so excited," she said. "He has worked so hard.”
Lee said the number of students bound for their top choice speaks well of the program at U of U.
“I think it really speaks to the excellence in the medical school that our medical students are able to get their top choices where they want to train,” she said.
After years of studying and stress, students are relieved to know where they’ll spend the next three to five years.
“Medicine is just a three-year program, so I could be making real money as a real doctor in three years,” Schackmann said.
