As UCF medical students, they devoted themselves to the forgotten \u2014 farmworkers, the homeless, the uninsured. And at Friday\u2019s National Match Day, as they learned where they will do residency training, many of the soon-to-be physician Knights took the next step in helping those in need.<\/p>\n
The 107 students who matched into residencies include the son of Cuban immigrants who studied ways for low-income women to get mammograms, a woman who was born prematurely and is a national spokesperson for the March of Dimes, and a former congressional aide who switched from healthcare policy to becoming a primary care physician.<\/p>\n
They joined colleagues, family members, children and even dogs on the College of Medicine\u2019s Tavistock Green to celebrate Match \u2014 the first time in two years that traditional ceremonies resumed because of COVID-19. At noon EST, almost 40,000 M.D. students nationwide learned where they will do the next three to seven years of their training based on their specialty of choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you are resilient. You spent your formative clinical years during a pandemic, and you have thrived,\u201d said their dean, Deborah German, her voice cracking with emotion. \u201cCOVID-19 has changed so much about our world, including residency interviews and away rotations. And you have persevered through all those challenges. At noon, as you open your Match envelope, you are opening the door to your future.\u201d<\/p>\n