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Friday, March 19, is match day across the U.S., including Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine fourth-year students in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, who will be continuing on to residencies, as well as Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, which offers residency positions.
During this national event held every third Friday in March as part of the National Resident Matching program, medical school students, and graduates from the U.S. and around the world, learn which U.S. residency program they will train at for the next three to seven years.
This is the first match for medical students at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine ― Arizona Campus.
Fourth-year medical students opened their envelopes at 11 a.m. CDT to find out their future specialties and residency training locations.
Watch: Match Day at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Arizona.
Watch: Match Day at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Minnesota.
Journalists: Broadcast-quality video from the Rochester, Minnesota Match Day and video with student soundbites from Phoenix, Arizona Match Day are in the downloads at the end of this post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network."
How is Match Day happening during the pandemic?
The match process has looked a little different this year due to COVID-19, with a shift to virtual interviewing methods. Medical students participating in match typically begin the process at the start of their fourth year by applying to residency programs and follow up by interviewing in person throughout the fall and winter.
This year, the interviewing process was virtual due to the pandemic, changing the traditional match landscape. The match day ceremony is special to medical students, and this year Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine had to be innovative to hold the event. Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine ― Arizona Campus held drive-in style match day ceremonies to respect pandemic rules.
The drive-in ceremony invited students to arrive with loved ones in their vehicles, listen to Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine deans and speakers give guidance and short speeches, and then sit (socially distanced with masks) as they were called to a stage outdoors to receive their envelopes. The students all opened their envelopes (containing the location of their residency) at the same time and returned to their vehicles to celebrate with their loved ones.
What about Mayo Clinic as a match?
Mayo Clinic not only trains future physicians at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, but also it is a destination for incoming resident trainees. Match day is important to Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, as it offers residency positions across Mayo Clinic.
Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education participated in another successful resident match in 2021. Fifty-nine of the school's programs in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota participated in the National Resident Matching Program offering a total of 312 positions.
Students can graduate from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine or another qualifying institution, complete their specialty and subspecialty training at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, and continue their professional medical career as members of the Mayo Clinic staff. Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education is critically important to Mayo Clinic's future, as 50% of Mayo's current physician staff trained here.
Mayo has one of the largest graduate medical education schools in the country, with more than 291 residency and fellowship programs.
