UH Med Now

64% matched into primary care-front line specializations

Match Day, one of the most exciting days in a medical student’s life, represents a new start in their journey to becoming doctors. It is the culmination of their sacrifices, hard work, and dedication to their lives as future physicians. That day has finally come for the fourth-year medical students at the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (UH JABSOM), as well as other medical students throughout the country. Today they found out which residency program they will be training at as new physicians for the next three to five years of their medical careers.

“Match Day is such a momentous day for any graduating senior medical student across the country,” said Jester Galiza, MD 2022 class president. “It’s the day all medical students dream of when they start medical school.”

This was the second year that Match Day was celebrated as a hybrid event for JABSOM students, with some students opting to join their class virtually so that they can celebrate at home with loved ones. Students attending Match Day in-person learned of their placements with their classmates in the auditorium at JABSOM while their guests watched with excitement at a different location on campus.

The close-knit class made a pact not to open their emails or envelopes until the clock struck at 7:00 a.m. Hawaiʻi Standard Time, along with other graduating medical students across the country.

JABSOM Students Overwhelmingly Choose Primary Care-Front Line Specialties (64%)

For another year, JABSOM students chose primary care specialties, including internal medicine, family medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics-gynecology. The students of this year’s graduating class were matched into 17 different specialities. This year sees the highest number of students (10) going into emergency medicine, while internal medicine remains the top choice among this year’s JABSOM students, with 20 students going into that practice. An overwhelming number of students are either staying in Hawaiʻi or close to the islands for their post-medical school training (Hawai’i: 20, California: 27, Oregon: 3, Washington: 1).

Below is the breakdown of students by specialty:
Internal Medicine: 20
Family Medicine: 3
Pediatrics: 5
Psychiatry: 3
General Surgery: 2
Obstetrics-Gynecology: 5
Emergency Medicine: 10
Anesthesiology: 3
Child Neurology: 2
Medicine-Pediatrics: 2
Neurosurgery: 2
Ophthalmology: 2
Orthopedic Surgery: 3
Pathology: 3
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation: 1
Radiology: 2
Radiology-Interventional:1
Research Year: 1

How Match Day Works
While the application process for Match Day happens in their fourth and final year of medical school, students spend their third year in clinical rotations to learn different specialities of medical practice. These rotations help students decide on their discipline if they haven’t already decided yet. The following year is when students begin applying to and interviewing with different residency programs. After the interview process, both students and program directors make a “rank-order-list” among those they interviewed with and submit them to the National Resident Matching Program. A computer algorithm is used to determine a match between candidate and program, the result of which is not shared until Match Day.

Watch our highlights video by Deborah Dimaya and hear why some students chose their respective specialties

Watch the livestream recap:

Janell Agcaoili, JABSOM Communications

Students pop a confetti bottle to celebrate! Deborah Dimaya photo.