CLEVELAND — Graduating medical school students now know where they’ll continue their training as doctors after graduation day.

What You Need To Know

  • Match Day is when graduating medical school students find out where they will spend their residency

  • The event is usually a large celebration for students, families, and faculty

  • The event was virtual this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Meredith Bradley is preparing to graduate from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine this spring and just learned more about what her future holds during “Match Day” on March 20.

“Oh, my God, I think I matched with Detroit Receiving,” she said when she received the email with her match. 

Bradley, and her nearly 200 other classmates, now know what field of medicine they will specialize in and where they will spend their residency and continue their training.

The school shared student photos and their matches during a virtual event Friday. School administrators said it’s normally a tradition for students, their families, and faculty to gather in person to discover their matches, but COVID-19 prevented that. 

“It’s really one of the best days of the year at the med school,” said Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Marjorie Greenfield. “You know, it’s almost the same as graduation. It’s that meaningful.”

The matches are made by computer after students rank their top choices. 

“Which is a little horrifying in one way, because you hate to think of your future being determined by a computer,” said Greenfield.

Bradley agreed. 

“It’s a little bit scary, because it’s like, you know, you put in all your preferences, like they matter,” said Bradley, “but it’s, like, an email being, like, ‘Here’s where you’re going to live for the next three years of your life,’ which, is a pretty stressful thing.”

But, Bradley is OK with her result. 

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I’m so excited.”

She’s looking forward to working in the emergency room. 

“I love meeting new people, I love getting to hear people’s stories and educating people about their health, which I believe can be a really important part of emergency medicine,” said Bradley. 

The matching process made her future as a physician feel a little more “real.”

“It went from like, ‘Oh, I’m graduating,’ to like, now I have to be someone’s doctor in two months,” she said. 

She said she’s prepared, thanks to her education paired with her lifelong love of science and passion for people.

“That feeling of being able to truly help other people,” she said. “It’s really special.”