In-person Match Day returns
College of Medicine graduating students learn where they are heading for residency
Match Day 2022 was filled with the usual screams of joy and excitement, tears, hugs and lots of smiles. For the first time since 2019, it was also live and in-person in Kresge Auditorium at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Eighty members of the Class of 2022 opted to run onto the Kresge stage, each to blaring walk-up music and applause and shouts from the packed auditorium, and learn where they were going for their residencies this summer. Half of the students were accompanied by sisters, brothers, moms, dads, girlfriends, boyfriends and fiancés. Eleven of the matching students announced their weddings would happen during the next two months.
The rest of the students tore into their envelopes at noon, a change from past years when all students waited for their names to be pulled randomly. The first name was selected by Andrew T. Filak Jr., MD, senior vice president for health affairs and Christian R. Holmes Professor and Dean, and the rest by Aurora Bennett, MD, associate dean for student affairs, and Bruce Giffin, PhD, associate dean for medical education.
Rosario Alarcon decided to wait for her name to be pulled at random.
“I was very excited to find out where I would match, and wanted that excitement to show through when I opened my envelope,” she says. “I also wanted to share this experience live, so that my family and friends who couldn’t be with me, could find out at the same time as me. I have family around the world, and am happy to have shared this special moment with them.”
She didn't have wait long as hers was the first name selected.
Rosario Alarcon holds her letter informing her of her match to Cincinnati Children's. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II
Alarcon says it was “surreal” when she heard her name announced. “I was not expecting to be called first at all. I had prepared myself to be patient and wait for my name, knowing it may be a while,” she says. “I was very honored to be the first one selected and to shake Dr. Filak’s hand. I was also very appreciative of going first to find out where I matched, so that I could celebrate my friends’ matches.”
Alarcon matched to Cincinnati Children’s for pediatrics, her No. 1 selection.
“My time at UC CoM has been wonderful. I have received such excellent training and feel prepared for residency and to become a pediatrician. I am very grateful for the experiences and the variety of rotations available, especially in the fourth year. Match Day was a day I will never forget. It was very exciting to be together again with my classmates in person as we found out where we would go. I really appreciated the multiple options on how and when to open our envelopes. I felt that it was the best way to give each student the option that they were most comfortable with on this special day.”
Kirstyn Thomas decided to open her envelope as the clock struck noon because her fiancé, Brandon Levin, another member of the Class of 2022, had matched into urology and learned in February that he would be going to the University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa.
“We were too eager to find out if I also matched in Tampa to wait,” says Thomas, who is finishing eight years of study at the University of Cincinnati having been a part of the combined BS/MD program.
Luckily, she got her first choice: USF for family medicine.
“As a couple who wasn’t able to participate in the official ‘Couples Match,’ we were so excited to learn of Brandon’s match results in February, but it was a long wait to find out where I was going,” she says.
Thomas adds that she is pleased to go to USF because Levin’s family lives close to Tampa.
John Stoffer was another Match participant who learned where he would be doing his residency before Match Day. His notification came via email on Feb. 8 as part of the San Francisco Match, which coordinates the ophthalmology match process. That email not only told him he matched, but also where he matched.
“A lot was riding on that email! I had didactics for one of my rotations scheduled for that morning, but my wife and I decided to quickly open the email together in an open study room at the medical school before class began,” says Stoffer, who is headed to the University of Alabama Birmingham.
“My wife and I sat down at the computer about 10 minutes prior to the time that the email would arrive,” Stoffer continues. “These were some of the most harrowing minutes of my life, knowing that this email determined whether I would match into the specialty of my dreams or be left jobless with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt (there is no SOAP process for ophthalmology applicants). We prayed hard and prepared to open the email.
“When we opened it, there was a brief, pregnant pause as we scanned to find the results written in plain, non-bolded text. It was difficult to concentrate, but ‘Congratulations … Birmingham’ was all I needed to see to know that the last four years of tireless studying had culminated in this–a job offer from my top program in a city that my wife and I adore. It was a humbling sort of victory, knowing that it would not have happened without mentors who invested in me and opportunities that were offered to me. I hugged my wife tightly, thankful for how our relationship had grown and been tested in the past four years and knowing how much I’ll need her for the four years ahead of us.”
Nine of the 174 matching UC students matched into ophthalmology, urology and the military and received their results prior to Match Day. Four students matched in ophthalmology, two in urology and three in the military (one in the Navy and two in the Air Force).
Gabrielle Mungcal announcing her match to the radiology residency program at Duke University Medical Center. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II
Gabrielle Mungcal says she decided to wait for her name to be called so her reaction on stage was genuine. However, her parents opened her envelope ahead of time to give her a heads up. A friend also let it slip that she would be doing her radiology residency at Duke University Medical Center after a transitional year in Santa Clara, California.
Walking onto the Kresge stage, Mungcal held her cell phone, her fiancé, Luke Wukusick, eagerly awaiting the announcement. The two will be married May 14 and will stay in the Bay Area for her transitional year before moving to Durham, North Carolina, for her radiology residency.
“Actually, seeing Duke on the paper for the first time in front of everyone made everything so real, though the entire thing feels like a dream. I feel so lucky and still can't quite believe that I matched at such a fantastic program,” Mungcal says. “I think in that moment, I just became so overwhelmed with emotion as I was already crying from having celebrated all of my friends and their matches and I just felt like all of the years of hard work and effort and support from so many people had truly paid off.”
Mungcal says she appreciates the work by the Medical Student Association and the college administration in planning a fantastic Match Day and is proud of her classmates.
“Looking back on my time at UC CoM, I just feel so much love and gratitude. I really do feel like UC CoM did so much to support me as well as help me succeed and help me achieve my goals. I am so thankful to my family and fiancé who supported me along this journey, but also the new family that I've made here at UC CoM. I truly could not have done any of this without my amazing friends and colleagues helping me through it all. I just feel so, so lucky,” Mungcal says.
Malik Morgan learns he will be heading to the University of Texas at Austin for his residency in orthopaedic surgery. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II
Malik Morgan wanted to share the moment of opening his envelope with everyone so he opted to do it on stage. He was joined by his girlfriend as he opened his envelope and announced he matched into orthopaedics at the University of Texas at Austin, his home town.
“Opening the letter to see I matched at UT was one the most surreal moments I’ve ever had. All my hard work had paid off and to see I could spend the next five years so much closer to family and friends was pure bliss,” he says. “I think Match Day will go down as a special moment in my life that I’ll never forget. To be a part of so much happiness in one room was such a great experience.
Lauren Boeckermann chose a different place to learn her Match results. She and five friends picked up their envelopes and went to Mad Tree Brewery in Oakley, where, one at a time, they opened their envelopes to share the news. Boeckermann matched to her No. 1 choice, otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Utah.
“The long, anticipated Match Day was even better than I could have expected. I am so proud of all of my classmates and the excitement to see where their careers are going is unmatched! I am grateful for all of my experiences at UC CoM, from my mentors in otolaryngology to my robust clinical experiences to my friends for a lifetime,” she says.
Michele Christy opened her envelope at noon—with her mother and boyfriend next to her—along with approximately half the Class of 2022. She matched into orthopaedic surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis. She says she did not have the patience to wait for her name to be called and, after all, she already had her envelope in hand.
“I just started crying happy tears,” Christy says when she read where she was going. “Finally, everything I have worked for to this point finally came to fruition. I think I experienced some of all kinds of emotions but excitement, relief, disbelief and then more excitement was how I felt throughout most of the ceremony.”
“I am so grateful for UC CoM and have truly had the most incredible medical school experience,” Christy adds. “MSA and administration went above and beyond to provide us the most memorable Match week. I feel a little bittersweet because I will miss the people at Cincinnati a lot, but am excited to watch everyone take this next step toward their future career.”
This was the last Match Day for Bennett as associate dean as she will be retiring this summer after leading student affairs for the last 11 years.
“Among the many joys of being the associate dean for student affairs, being with our students on Match Day is among the most wonderful moments,” Bennett says. “Knowing the hurdles that so many have surpassed to reach this day, gives it very special meaning and elicits such pride in their perseverance. Of course, it always conjures memories of my own Match Day which provides me with a deeper understanding of how very spectacular this day is to them and to the many who have helped them prepare for the next phase of their careers.”
The most common specialty selected by students was internal medicine and pediatrics (each with 21 students, or 10.6%). After that, internal medicine-preliminary (18, 9.1%), emergency medicine (16, 8.1%), family medicine (15, 7.6%) and anesthesiology and radiology (each with 14, 7.1%) followed as the most preferred specialties.
Almost a third of the graduating students—62 or 31.4%—are remaining in Ohio to do their postgraduate training. Other popular matching states were Texas (11, 5.5%), New York and California (each with 10, 5%) and Illinois (9, 4.5%). Thirty-nine students will stay in Cincinnati.
Eighteen students, or 9.1%, will be doing their residencies at UC Medical Center. Cincinnati Children’s (7, 3.5%), Christ Hospital (6, 3%) and Indiana University and Jewish Hospital (each with 5, 2.5%) were other top destinations.
Among the many other prestigious programs UC students matched to were: Baylor College of Medicine; Case Western Reserve University; Johns Hopkins University; Mount Sinai Health System in New York; Rush University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Francisco; University of Chicago; University of Michigan; University of Pittsburgh; Vanderbilt University; and Yale University.
A recording of the Match Day celebration can be viewed online.
The College of Medicine Class of 2022 on Match Day.
Featured photo of Adannia Ufondu, who matched to the Cleveland Clinic for radiation oncology. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II
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