Unlike college acceptance letters, residency program acceptance letters are not directly sent to individuals — instead, they are sent to medical schools. Graduating Medical students gathered in the McLeod Auditorium Friday morning, where their deans handed out residency acceptances as part of an annual ceremony known as Match Day.
“I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘You have to come, you have to come. It’s such an amazing experience,’ so I wanted to come see before I experience it,” third-year Medical School student Molly Cincotta said.
The event started with the class president giving an introductory speech and explaining the Match Day process. Envelopes containing students’ acceptance letters were placed in a sack and pulled out at random. After receiving their acceptance envelopes, students shook hands with the four deans and received a glass of champagne or cider from the Medical Alumni Association.
At 12 p.m., students were invited to open their envelopes. Various reactions ensued, with some students cheering, dancing or crying.
“[It’s] pandemonium, happy pandemonium,” Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Dr. Rasheed Balogun said. “I’ve been here 15 years, and I’ve been a dean for five years. It’s exciting every year.”
Balogun also revealed that he, along with the other three assistant deans, already knew where everyone had been accepted but that the excitement came from seeing students’ reactions.
“It’s one of the most gratifying moments of being an educator to see success the students achieved themselves,” Asst. Dean of Student Affairs Dr. Christine Peterson said.
Also in attendance was Dr. Vivian Pinn — class of 1967 Medical School graduate — for whom one of the medical school’s four colleges is named. Pinn was both the only woman and the only person of color in her graduating class.
“I think things were much more formal then,” Pinn said. “There were faculty I liked and students I liked, but the fondness the students had for their deans, to me, that’s a very striking difference, and I was very pleased to see it. I think that it’s because of the four-college system. It’s one of the positives here, besides being U.Va.”
For many, Match Day is actually bigger than graduation.
“It’s been four years of hard work to get a piece of paper that tells you where you’ll get your first job,” Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs Dr. John Densmore said. “It’s rare that you just get a piece of paper that just tells you where you’re going.”
After graduation, most of the medical students will have about two months to relax, before moving, in some cases with their spouses and children, to their residency locations where they will continue their education and start their jobs.
While the graduating medical students will be spread across the map, 28 students will enter residency programs at the University Health System.
“A lot of U.Va. students want to stay at U.Va., because it’s hard to leave Charlottesville, and we have a lot of great residencies,” Asst. Dean of Student Affairs Dr. Meg Keeley said.
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