Fifty-eight of Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine fourth-year students learned where they will spend the next few years training during the National Resident Matching Program’s (NRMP) annual Match Day.

The 58 graduating seniors were paired with graduate medical programs across the country ranging from family medicine, pediatrics and orthopedic surgery to emergency medicine. The medical programs that were paired with the seniors through the NRMP will be where the students will train through their residencies for the next three to five years.

Earlier this year, four Marshall seniors were matched in the U.S. Military Match. Those seniors will spend their residency at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Eisenhower Army Medical Center, among others.

“We are extremely proud of these soon-to-be graduates,” said assistant dean of student affairs Amy Smith, M.Ed. “They will be heading to specialty programs at Dartmouth, Emory, Hershey Medical Center and the University of Chicago, as well as well-respected primary care residencies here at Marshall University and West Virginia University.”

Smith said the Marshall students have matched into excellent programs across the United States.

About half of the graduating class will be entering fields considered primary care in West Virginia. These include family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology and pediatrics, which will continue Marshall’s mission of educating physicians for the nation’s rural areas.

Approximately, 24 percent of students will continue their training in West Virginia.

The residency match program begins fall 2016. Applications are then reviewed followed by candidate interviews through the fall and early winter. Generally in mid-winter, after the interview process is completed, applicants submit to the NRMP their rank order lists and then programs rank the applicants in order of preference.

A computerized algorithm matches applicants with programs using the preferences expressed on their ranked lists.

Logan Parkulo can be at [email protected].