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Match Day 2009
Dr. David Guzick, M.D., Ph.D.
April 06, 2009
My very first Dean’s newsletter was about the Match (“Reflections on Residency Placements,” March 31, 2004). At that time, the Match was being threatened by a class action lawsuit in which it was argued that medical schools and hospitals, in conjunction with their professional organizations, have violated antitrust laws by conspiring "to displace competition in the recruitment, hiring, employment, and compensation of resident physicians."
Fortunately, the plaintiffs lost this lawsuit and the annual Match has continued. In 1952, the Match replaced a chaotic system that put great pressure on vulnerable medical students to make suboptimal career decisions. Since then, the Match has provided an equitable and unfettered environment for residency selection. I have written about the Match each year since that time, but this year I have asked David Lambert, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Medical Student Education and Master of Ceremonies of Match Day, to share his thoughts as a guest author for this Dean’s 
Newsletter. There is no one at the medical school who has contributed more to the educational environment that has resulted in our very talented students succeeding brilliantly in optimizing their Match aspirations.
Match Day 2009
David Lambert, MD
One of the great annual events in medical schools across the country is Match Day. Around the vernal equinox, where day and night are balanced equally in time, senior medical students discover where they will be doing their residency—a new dawn in their lives. This year’s Match Day on Thursday March 19th had the same high energy and excitement as those of years past, but with its own unique characteristics.
Students gathered in the Class of 1962 Auditorium at 11:30 with spouses, partners, children and families. As a prelude to opening envelopes at noon, a prize awarding game show “Are You Smarter than a Faculty Member?” was played. Covering 
questions from each year of medical school as well as URSMD history, students (and faculty!) displayed their vast knowledge of SMD trivia. In the time before noon, Dr. Guttmacher, Advisory Dean shared some comical memories of his match day. Prompted by Dr. Nicole Stassen, Surgery Clerkship Director, students who had children or were expecting children, introduced them to the large group. Each introduction was met with a round of applause and cheers. The final student to stand up was Matthew Swenson who announced that his wife Amy was currently in labor with their first child, a daughter. The crowd went wild. At this point, the official time projected on the screen showed it was almost 11:50 and so the class agreed that opening envelopes at 11:50 seemed reasonable to get Matthew back up to labor and delivery. With a loud countdown and nearly palpable nervousness, students opened their envelopes.
The Class of 2009 did extremely well in the Match and was pleased with their residency positions. Students secured positions in categorical internal medicine (11), pediatrics (11), anesthesiology (7), dermatology (1), ophthalmology (3), 
orthopedics (5), family medicine (5), obstetrics and gynecology (3), psychiatry (4), general surgery (7), plastic surgery (2), otolaryngology (2), urology (3), pathology (1), emergency medicine (6), transitional year (1), preliminary surgery (2), neurology (3), child neurology (4), neurological surgery (2), pathology (1), medicine/pediatrics (3), radiology (1) and physical medicine/rehab (1).
In addition to New York State, July will find the latest group of URSMD alumni in Florida, Texas, California, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Students always appreciate hearing from alumni in the cities where they will be training.
Nineteen percent of the class will remain here at the University of Rochester Medical Center in a wide range of specialties including anesthesiology, dermatology, 
emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, medicine-pediatrics, surgery, pediatrics, child neurology, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, orthopedics and ophthalmology.
Nationally, a total of 25,185 positions were available and 24,039 of them were filled. Almost 82% of U.S. seniors matched to one of their top three choice programs. (Data on individual schools is not available.)
Oh, and what about Matthew Swenson and his wife Amy? They had a very healthy 8 
pound 4 ounce baby boy named Todd Kenneth Swenson. Indeed, Match Day is full of great surprises.
To Dr. Lambert—On behalf of the medical school and its students, thanks so much for defusing the anxiety of Match Day by turning it into a fun event, and for creating and implementing a wonderful educational environment that has brought out the best in our exceptional students. Here’s a complete listing of this year’s Match: http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/education/matchday/matchday09.cfm.
Meliora,
David S. Guzick, MD, PhD
Dean, School of Medicine and Dentistry
University of Rochester
Dean's Newsletter
Posted May 28, 2009:
A Fond Farewell to the University of Rochester
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