Friday, 4/11/97
‘Matching’ links med students to their futures
Program assigns seniors to
residency positions
By Peggy Shen
Daily Bruin Contributor
Fourth-year medical students are having the time of their lives.
Some are even on vacation right now. Those who are still at UCLA
are finishing up and say they find things much less stressful.
Most importantly, the uncertainty of their futures is over as
they have all already "matched."
Matching is the process in which medical school seniors are
assigned to training positions at U.S. teaching hospitals by the
National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).
This year’s match results show an increasing interest among U.S.
medical school students in the primary care specialties. Match data
for UCLA students echoes these national trends and also indicates
the success that UCLA School of Medicine graduates have had in the
match process.
The NRMP was established in 1952 to provide an orderly and fair
mechanism to match the applicants’ preferences for U.S. residency
positions with residency program’s choices of applicants.
The applicants submit a list ranking their choices of teaching
schools and the programs submit a similar list ranking the
students, said Neil Parker, senior associate dean of student
affairs and graduate medical education.
"The computer matches the students’ choices with the schools’
choices," he said.
Matches are binding contracts, as students are obliged to serve
wherever they are assigned, said Parker. Most residency programs
are three years, with training in some specialties lasting even
longer.
The fates of seniors across the nation are all determined on the
same hour of the same day, known as Match Day. This year’s Match
Day took place at noon (EST) on Wednesday, March 19, so with the
time difference, UCLA seniors were ready to celebrate at 9 a.m.
Out of 171 medical seniors, including students from UCLA,
Riverside and the Drew Medical Science training program, 76 percent
of the students received one of their top three choices while 68
percent got their first choice. Seventy-five percent will be
staying in Los Angeles and 3 percent are staying at a
UCLA-affiliated program.
"They like their (UCLA) education and like to continue to stay
here," said Parker, adding that he is very proud of the students
and their match results.
"We have always been very successful and hope to continue to
be," he said. "Everyone, all but two students, matched in the
specialty of their choice."
Primary care, which includes internal medicine, family medicine
and pediatrics, was the most popular specialty choice. Fifty-four
percent of UCLA students matched to a primary care specialty.
For the third consecutive year, more than half of the graduating
U.S. medical school seniors have matched to one of the generalist
(also known as primary care) specialties for at least their first
year of residency.
Overall, the rate of U.S. medical graduates entering generalist
specialties has been increasing since 1991.
According to NRMP data, these trends are not only a reflection
of the increasing number of generalist positions offered by the
residency programs, but are also due to increased student interest
in such positions.
"UCLA has changed the curriculum to deal with more primary
care," said Parker, explaining what he sees as a main factor behind
the increasing number of primary care matches, which he also
attributes to trends in employment opportunities.
Matthew Price, a fourth-year UCLA medical student who was
matched to an internal medicine position at the UCLA Center for
Heath Sciences, agreed.
"The job market has impacted a lot on people’s decisions. The
marketplace is moving toward primary care," he said, citing these
economic currents as part of his motivation for choosing a
generalist specialty.
Currently, Price is completing his rotation in radiology. "After
I finish up in three weeks, I am going to go home, relax, go to the
beach …" he said.
"It is probably the most relaxed time at any point during
medical school," he continued, sentiments which are a far cry from
those he expressed on March 19, a day he described as "a little bit
dreadful."
Several of his classmates agreed with his evaluation of Match
Day.
"I say nauseous, woozy – woozy is the medical term," said
Michael Frumovitz, who will train in obstetrics and gynecology at
Columbia Medical Center.
But, since Match Day, everything has become much more relaxed
for UCLA fourth-year medical students, said Price, adding that,
"Residents tell you to enjoy yourself. It is sort of your last
breath of fresh air for a long time (before residency)."
"After residency, it is either fellowship or a job," he said.
"It is a whole match process again."