College of Medicine

 March 18, 2016

Nine College of Medicine students from the Class of 2016 matched in Tallahassee — including three in the med school’s brand-new surgery residency program at Tallahassee Memorial. Fifty-one students matched in Florida — the most in the school’s history. And 68 matched in primary care — including 20 in family medicine.

Those are a few headlines from Match Day 2016, which took place March 18 in Ruby Diamond Concert Hall. Like other fourth-year med students throughout the country, these FSU students found out which residency programs they’ll join for the next phase of their medical training. Along the way, the audience also got to see video excerpts featuring faculty members in a goofy takeoff on “Star Wars.” And they got to hear students thank their parents, significant others, God – and the faculty and staff at the College of Medicine.

“They helped us every step of the way,” Class President Alejandro Chavarriaga said after the ceremony. “That’s what we’ll do with our patients. This is the No. 1 medical school in the country.”

Here’s a closer look at the numbers:

• Fifty-six percent of the Class of 2016 chose primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology or pediatrics).
• In fact, the No. 1 specialty for this class was family medicine (17 percent), followed by internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology and pediatrics (all tied at 13 percent), general surgery (8 percent), anesthesiology (7 percent) and emergency medicine (6 percent).
• Other students matched in general surgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, orthopedic surgery, neurology, ophthalmology, psychiatry, diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology, dermatology, neurological surgery, otolaryngology, pathology and urology.
• Forty-three percent of the students who matched did so in Florida, a state that ranks 42nd nationally in the number of available residency slots. To help address the issue, the College of Medicine has been partnering with institutions around the state to sponsor more residency programs.
• In fact, eight students matched in residency programs sponsored by the College of Medicine: three in the surgery program at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, three in the family medicine program at Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, one in the internal medicine program at TMH and one in the dermatology program at Dermatology Associates.
• Besides the five students mentioned above, four other students matched in Tallahassee — at TMH’s family medicine residency program.
• Among the other Florida programs where College of Medicine students matched were University of Florida Health-Gainesville (12), Orlando Health (nine) and the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine (five).
• After Florida, the states where the most Class of 2016 students matched were North Carolina (seven), New York (six) and Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and Virginia (five each).
• Students heading out of state matched with superior residency programs, such as Columbia, Dartmouth, Emory, Loyola, Southern California, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Yale and many more.

Here’s how the nationwide match works: Through the computerized National Resident Matching Program, students electronically rank the residency programs where they interviewed, and residency program directors rank the students.

Though the College of Medicine’s Match Day ceremony lasts more than an hour, the heart of the action takes place in about three minutes of chaos, when students open their envelopes to find out where they’ll spend the next three to seven years. Shouts ring out, tears flow, cameras flash, hugs abound. Later, one regional campus at a time, most of the students go onstage to reveal their residency destination. A few increase the suspense by waiting until they get onstage to open their envelopes.

The ceremony was streamed live. More students than ever acknowledged loved ones who were watching from afar.

Actually, quite a few loved ones took the stage themselves – siblings, parents, grandparents, even little children. Nicholas Jeffrey had his mother read his match information aloud (while his brother took selfies). Jordan Bilezikian asked his mother, Anjel, to read his. And both Joshua Dault and Sasha Kaiser put their children in front of the microphone to speak the name of the city that will soon be their home.

Seated in the front row of Ruby Diamond was FSU President John Thrasher, who not only stayed for the entire ceremony but also shook the hands of countless students and family members. Some memorable moments onstage:

• Slyly referring to the presidential campaign of Ben Carson, student Carson Rodeffer thanked everyone for all those encouraging “Carson 2016” bumper stickers he’d seen on the streets.
• Shea Aupont, Kristen Dimas, Neeti Pradeep, Shaki Salvador and Aruna Khan came onstage together to share the suspenseful moment.
• Ryan Sutherland limped onstage with his wife, daughter and crutches.
• Aarian Afshari said, “My dad’s my hero. He’s the reason I’m here.”
• After learning that he’d be joining the general surgery residency program at Atlanta Medical Center, Chavarriaga announced, “Gallbladders, beware!”
• Andrew Birr quoted Teddy Roosevelt: “Far and away, the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
• Joseph Babcock announced that his wife, beside him onstage, had recently earned her Ph.D. “They don’t have a Match Day,” he explained, “so I wonder if you’d give her a round of applause.” The crowd happily complied.
• Josh Burns prompted appreciative sighs from the audience when he said, “Actually, I matched my first choice back in September: This is my wife.”
• Robyn Torof noted that her supportive father had moved from Ohio to be near her and that now she’d be getting her residency training in … Toledo.
• One more excerpt from Chavarriaga: “Goodbye, student loans. Hello, direct deposit!”

Every year features a different theme, and this year’s was “Star Wars.” Staff members Mark Bauer and Glenn Hodgson created the videos with College of Medicine actors, including Dean John P. Fogarty, Family Medicine Dean Dan Van Durme, Assistant Student Affairs Dean Rob Campbell, Clinical Sciences Dean Ricardo Gonzalez-Rothi, Geriatrics Professor Ken Brummel-Smith, Associate Dean for Student Affairs Chris Leadem, Senior Associate Dean Alma Littles, security employee Careena Heidel and scene-stealer Karen “Princess Leia” Myers,
assistant professor of family medicine.

Wrapping up the ceremony with one final “Star Wars” reference, Fogarty told the crowd, “As you look around this room, I think the Force truly lives in the Class of ’16.”

On May 21, the 119 students in the Class of 2016 will become the 12th class to graduate from the College of Medicine — which will then have 1,029 alumni.

To watch the Match Day video, visit https://youtu.be/QLteN90iVpM

For information about Florida State’s Match Day history, visit http://med.fsu.edu/alumniFriends/whereTheyMatched

To see where past College of Medicine graduates are practicing, visit http://public.med.fsu.edu/alumni/alumni.aspx