March 18, 2022

Warrior M.D. Class of 2022 shares day of joy at in-person Match Day

The Class of 2022's Jaila Campbell and Zainab Al-Musawi show off their match results after opening their envelopes on Match Day 2022.

Jaila Campbell is going home.

Campbell, a fourth-year medical student at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, learned Friday that she secured a residency in Internal Medicine at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Macomb Township, Mich.

She grew up there, attending Dakota High School. After living in Detroit for four years during medical school, she’s excited to move back to her hometown, as is her mother.

“I am so proud of her,” said Sheila Campbell, whose brother Steven Wilson, M.D., also attended the School of Medicine.

At the first in-person Match Day celebration since 2019, Wayne State University School of Medicine students from the Class of 2022 gathered at MotorCity Casino in Detroit on March 18 to celebrate their accomplishments in a program that included award announcements, remarks from faculty and student leadership, awards, and of course, the countdown clock.

Match Day 2022 was filled with moments of joy like these, as medical students found out where they will spend their post-graduation residency years.

At noon, students opened envelopes containing their post-graduation residency assignment for the next three to seven years, depending on their medical specialty. The match rate for the School of Medicine students who participated in this year’s match was 97.4%, higher than the national average of 92.9%. The school's match rate over the last five years, 98%, is also higher than the national five-year rate of 93%. Campbell was one of nearly 300 students who cheered and shouted, surrounded by family, friends and faculty, after opening the envelopes.

“I had lots of nerves before, but I was ecstatic to find out,” Campbell said.

Classmate Daniel Harris is headed to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for a residency in Psychiatry. The location and specialty was his No. 1 choice after ranking his top picks following interviews. “I’m very happy,” he said.

In what seemed like the theme for the day, Harris wants to come home, to Detroit, after completing his residency in a few years.

“Wayne has been a phenomenal experience and I’ve learned so much. I can’t wait to come back. I can’t say thank you enough for everything they’ve done for us,” he said.

Students took turns posing with "I Matched" signs like these throughout the afternoon.

The Match Day event in Detroit is one of hundreds nationwide that follow the protocol of the NRMP, a private non-profit corporation established in 1952 to provide a uniform date of appointment to graduate medical education positions in the United States.

“I feel like it’s a new day for the School of Medicine in more ways than one. It’s really celebratory,” said Margit Chadwell, M.D. ’94, associate dean of Students Affairs for the School of Medicine.

From mid-January through late February, applicants and program directors rank each other in order of preference and submit preference lists to NRMP, which processes them using a computerized mathematical algorithm to match applicants with programs.

In her remarks to the more than 800 attending the event, WSU Medical Alumni Association Board of Governors member Hanh Nghiem, M.D. – whose daughter Emily matched into General Surgery at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital in New York – reminded the students that matching with one of their chosen locations is an accomplishment.

“Today, no matter if you match with your first choice or your last, you can breathe a sigh of relief,” she said. “Today we celebrate your future as physicians.”

This year, 20,553 U.S. seniors applicants participated in the Match. Including international applications, 42,549 people applied for 39,205 available residency positions, 36,277 first-year positions.

Roommates Michael Franklin and Michael Moentmann show off their match results.

At Wayne State, 51 percent, or 154, of the School of Medicine’s seniors are staying in Michigan, matching with 18 Michigan-based health systems that include the Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health System, Beaumont Health, University of Michigan, Ascension and St. Mary Mercy.

Overall, 43 percent of students are entering primary care specialties such as Internal Medicine, Family Medicine and more. The top three specialties include 58 students entering Internal Medicine, 27 entering Family Medicine and 23 entering Psychiatry.

Students leaving Michigan after graduation will head to New York, California, Illinois, Ohio and 30 other states. Michael Moentmann is headed to Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Otolaryngology, where he spent one month on a visiting externship. “I’m very happy to be there,” he said.