Modern cells phones may have stolen a bit of suspense from National
Match Day, when fourth-year medical students around the United States
learn the hospitals where they'll go for residency training. On Friday, some Penn State College of Medicine students had to sit with their envelopes for as long as a half-hour before they could finally open them and learn the news they've awaited for months if not longer. Some could be seen holding their envelopes against brightly lit cell phone screens. Based on the reaction of at least one, it worked.
Yet plenty of drama remained and, at the end of a countdown, the new doctors eagerly opened their envelopes, with the room soon filled with shouts and squeals. Then the banquet room at a hotel outside Harrisburg was filled with young doctors exchanging hugs with classmates and the many moms, dads, grandparents and others who attended.
All told, 136 students of the Derry Township-based medical school learned their residency destination. Residencies, which typically last from three to five or more years depending on the specialty, are a period of intense hospital-based training doctors must go through before they can work on their own.
"It was my first choice," said Morgann Loaec, who learned she'll do a residency in pediatrics at the renowned Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The 26-year-old Downingtown, Pa. native said she wanted to go to CHOP for its reputation, but also because it's near her family and fiancee.
But while it was hard to detect, there was bound to be disappointment too, given that medical students all over the country were competing for limited spots, meaning many had to settle for something less than their favorite choice or choices.
All told, the fourth-year medical school class numbered 145, with a few not involved in the match event for reasons such as going to work for the military. About 30 percent will work at hospitals in Pennsylvania, and 24 of them will do their residencies at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.
One thing that most if not all have in common is that, when they begin their residencies in July, the'll embark on the portion of their medical career that's often remembered as the hardest. In a practice that has come under criticism over the years, the doctors in training routinely work extremely long shifts, often broken up by sleep breaks that don't even allow enough time to leave the hospital.
