Match Day this Thursday for ECU medical students

GREENVILLE, N.C.   (Mar. 14, 2006)   —   East Carolina University’s medical class of 2006 will learn Thursday where they will spend the next several years completing their residency training.

During what often becomes a loud and celebratory event, the fourth-year students at the Brody School of Medicine participate in a nationwide rite of passage of medical students transitioning to physicians. The event will be held at noon March 16 in the auditorium of the Brody Medical Sciences Building.

Nearly 70 medical students will bring their spouses, parents, children and friends with them to find out their residency placement assignments.

Match Day is organized by the National Residency Matching Program, a private, not-for-profit organization sponsored by the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Hospital Association and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies.

The National Residency Matching Program provides an impartial venue for matching applicants’ preferences for residency positions with program directors’ preferences for applicants. Each year approximately 16,000 U.S. medical school seniors and 17,000 independent graduates of osteopathic, Canadian or foreign medical schools compete for approximately 23,000 residency positions.

Before they can provide direct patient care, medical school graduates in the United States are required to complete a three- to seven-year graduate program accredited in a recognized medical specialty.