University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine fourth-year medical students receive residency assignments | Carson City Nevada News

Fourth-year medical students from the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine were among the approximately 18,000 medical student nationwide who learned where they will spend their residencies today as part of Match Day — including in northern Nevada, throughout the state and across the nation.

An honored medical school tradition, an annual rite of passage and one of the most pivotal moments in medical education, Match Day is simultaneously observed by medical students across the country to reveal where they will complete their residencies, the next step toward becoming practicing physicians.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and health and safety protocols, medical students received their results virtually, with a personalized video created by the UNR Med team which revealead each student’s match location and specialty.

“UNR Med is dedicated to increasing the number of physicians in Nevada by educating more medical students, retaining them as residents and ultimately as practicing physicians,” said UNR Med Dean, Thomas L. Schwenk, M.D. “We’re thrilled to find that three students will be staying in northern Nevada and nine students have matched throughout the state for some portion of their training. The fact that students want to train in Nevada supports our goal of training physicians who recognize the health care needs in our communities and are committed to staying or coming back to Nevada. This is a major component of our community-based and community-engaged curriculum model.”

Residency training location is a strong indication of where physicians will likely set up their medical practices following completion of residency and has major implications for the future availability of health care professionals in a given area. UNR Med has a residency program in internal medicine, family medicine, psychiatry, geriatrics, hospice and palliative medicine, child and adolescent psychology and sports medicine. This year, 45 UNR Med residency/fellowship spots were filled.

Approximately 14 percent of the UNR Med Class of 2021 are staying in Nevada for some part of their training, and nearly 50 percent of the UNR Med Class of 2021 matched in primary care and mental health, which includes family medicine, internal medicine, internal medicine/pediatrics, pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology.

Access to graduate medical training programs for residencies and fellowships is a competitive process known as “The Match.” Medical students begin the application process at the start of the fourth year of medical school. After applications and interviews, both medical students and residency programs create ranked lists of their preferences. Binding contracts are signed in advance to honor the results.

The National Resident Matching Program is a private, not-for-profit organization, which uses a Nobel Prize-winning, computerized mathematical algorithm to align the preferences of applicants with those of residency program directors in order to produce the best possible outcome for filling training positions available at U.S. teaching hospitals.

Match Day results with residency programs and specialties of the Class of 2021 are posted online here.

In the Photo: Megan Phares (left) and Crystal Phares, M.D., ’19 celebrate Match Day two years ago, by placing a pin on the map, indicating where Dr. Phares matched for residency during the Class of 2019 Match Day ceremony.

— Tessa Bowen, MPA, is a Communications Manager for Advancement and Engagement, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. She can be reached at [email protected]