The Wayne State University School of Medicine's Class of 2018 will make a giant leap toward the finish line this week when they find out whether they have landed a post-graduation residency slot.
March 12-16 is "Match Week" for the National Resident Matching Program's 2018 Main Residency Match.
During Match Week, WSU's 300 medical students will be among the thousands of medical school students and graduates from the United States and around the world who will learn in which U.S. residency programs they will train for the next three to seven years.
The highlight of the week is Match Day on March 16, a day celebrated by U.S. allopathic medical schools around the country with Match Day ceremonies that begin at noon ET.
WSU's annual Match Day bash will be held at the MGM Grand Detroit's Grand Ballroom, where history shows that nearly 900 students, faculty, staff and family members will count down the seconds before learning where their sons, daughters, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers and siblings will live and work as physicians for at least the next three years, celebrating with cheers and tears of joy.
The event mirrors national Match Day events scheduled on the same day throughout the country, and follows the protocol of the NRMP, a private non-profit corporation established in 1952 to provide a uniform date of appointment to positions of graduate medical education in the United States.
"Match Week is an exciting rite of passage for medical students and graduates that is a culmination of years of hard work and dedication," said Mona Signer, NRMP president and chief executive officer. "NRMP is delighted to be a part of this life-changing event."
The NRMP expects the 2018 Main Residency Match to be the largest in history, exceeding the more than 43,000 applicants who registered for the 2017 Match and the more than 31,000 positions offered last year. Results of the Main Residency Match are closely watched because they can predict future changes in the physician workforce. View reports from previous matches here.
Match Week begins on Monday at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, when applicants learn if they have matched to a program. Monday through Thursday, unmatched applicants participate in the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program to try to obtain a position that did not fill when the matching algorithm was processed.
The NRMP, American Medical Association, and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) are hosting online Match Week celebrations on Tagboard and YouTube, where Match participants and the medical education community will post pictures, videos, and congratulatory messages.
Participating in Match events at Wayne State? Use the hashtags #warriormd and #Match2017
For applicants, the Main Residency Match process begins in the fall during the final year of medical school, when they apply to the residency programs of their choice. Throughout the fall and early winter, applicants interview with programs. From mid-January to late February, applicants and program directors rank each other in order of preference and submit the preference lists to NRMP, which processes them using a computerized mathematical algorithm to match applicants with programs. Research on the NRMP algorithm was a basis for awarding The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2012.
In addition to the annual Main Residency Match for more than 43,000 registrants, the NRMP conducts fellowship matches for more than 60 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service.