Medical students from Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine gathered with family and friends in a ballroom at the Worthington Renaissance Hotel in downtown Fort Worth to anxiously await the moment when medical students across the country find out where they'll do their residencies. Friday was 'Match Day' for med students.
The TCOM class of 2024 started medical school during COVID-19. Their first year was all online.
"It just means that we're gonna be better prepared for all the challenges that we're gonna face as physicians," TCOM student Kate Russell said. "I feel so lucky that Kate was right down the hall and we could spend those tough moments together and get through it," Madisen Seidel said.
Seidel and Russell have been friends since they went to kindergarten together in Tyler and now medical school together, too.
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"I wanted to be a doctor for so long," Seidel said. "I've always enjoyed, like, working with women and families, and so OB has always kind of been an interest of mine."
"I hated going to the doctor," Russell laughed. "I was the worst patient in the whole world! So it's actually really a surprise to everyone that I'm in healthcare."
At 10:00 a.m., there was a countdown for med students to open envelopes that revealed the next step in their medical career.
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"10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1," the voice over the ballroom speaker shouted. "Open your letters!"
The friends stood together and opened their Match Day envelopes.
"Oh my gosh," Russell said nervously under her breath. "It's Emory!"
Emory University in Atlanta was Russell's first choice for a neurology residency.
"It's your number one too," Russell screamed as she hugged Seidel, who matched for an OB/GYN residency with Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
"These were both our number ones," Russell said. "Yeah, pretty cool!"
Despite the COVID-19 start, all 229 students in TCOM were matched with residencies on Match Day.
