CINCINNATI — Medical students here in Ohio and across the country are taking part in an annual tradition on the third Friday in March: Match Day. It’s the day when they’re matched with hospitals and clinics for an apprenticeship known as residency.

What You Need To Know

  • Match Day is the 3rd Friday of March

  • Medical students across the U.S. find out where they will be doing their residencies

  • A residency is like an apprenticeship where med students learn their specialties

“Oh man, today is the most exciting day of all of med school,” said Halimat Olaniyan, a fourth-year medical student from Michigan who is part of the program at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. “You’ve worked so hard to get to this moment. For me, it’s a bigger deal than graduation.”

The tradition started in 1952. Prospective residents spend the winter interviewing at hospitals and clinics across the country. The students and the institutions rank each other and a computer algorithm does the matching.

Students receive an email on the Monday of that week that tells them if they’ve received a match. They have to wait until a ceremony on Friday to find out where they’re going, opening an envelope in the noon hour.

“It all boils down to one moment when you open the envelope and find out where you’re going to spend the next three to seven years of your life,” said Rachel Holloway, a fourth-year medical student from Mason.  

With her parents, Dave and Lisa, siblings and friends, Holloway found out she will be staying in Cincinnati for a residency at Children’s Hospital.

“I’ve dreamed of this day for a while now and it’s just surreal that it’s here and that I’ve matched with such a great program,” Holloway said. “I’m so excited to be here.”

Holloway is the first in her family to become a doctor.

“It was this call to help people and to really be able to use my skill set to help people when they’re most vulnerable,” Holloway said. “To be able to take care of people who are ill and heal — it’s very rewarding.”

Olaniyan matched with the Indiana University where she will be studying Pathology.

“I’ve been planning all my life to get to this point,” she said. “I’m so excited.”

In all, 168 UC medical students received a match and will be moving on their path in medicine, according to university officials.