Brody sending 58 percent into primary care residencies

Josh and Becky McKinnon react after learning they will be going to St. Vincent Hospital Center in Indianapolis for residencies in internal medicine-family medicine and family medicine, respectively. Photo by Cliff Hollis

GREENVILLE, N.C.  — More than half of the medical students graduating from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University this spring will go into primary care residencies.

Those are the results of the annual Match Day, celebrated today amid whoops and hugs at the Brody Medical Sciences Building.

Of the 65 students participating in the match, 13 – the same number as last year – are entering family medicine residencies. Eleven are entering some type of internal medicine residency. Nine students are entering pediatric residency programs, and five are entering obstetrics and gynecology. Those numbers equal 58 percent of the students participating in the match.

“I’m so thrilled,” said Crystal Bowe, who will be staying in Greenville to pursue a family medicine residency at ECU and Pitt County Memorial Hospital. “I could not wait for today. I dreamed about getting this envelope, and I got my first choice.”

Bowe, of Ahoskie and mother of a 9-year-old son, said family medicine was the only choice for her. “I like treating the whole family,” she said. “I couldn’t just treat children. I wanted to treat the parents, too.”

Before they provide direct patient care, U.S. medical school graduates normally complete a three- to seven-year residency program accredited in a recognized medical specialty. Medical students at all the nation’s medical schools learned their destinations today.

The class of 2010 was accepted into institutions in 18 states in 17 specialties. The Brody School of Medicine and PCMH will be home to 15 class members. Thirty-one graduates will stay in North Carolina.

Susan Morgan will be studying obstetrics and gynecology at Ohio State University. “I’ve loved it here, and I’m going to miss it here a lot, but I’m very excited to be going somewhere completely different,” she said, adding she will especially miss Pirate football games.

Before the first student’s name was called to come get an envelope with the match letter, Dr. Paul R.G. Cunningham, dean of the Brody School of Medicine, spoke. “You are cut from the Brody cloth. Remember to lead,” he said.

Student Jeffrey Urieto was the last one to have his name called and, by tradition, received a basket of cash donated by other students.

The National Residency Match Program, a private, not-for-profit organization, provides a method for matching applicants for residency positions in the United States with residency programs at various teaching hospitals. Applicants and hospitals rank each other in order of preference, and a computer matches them based upon those rankings.

According to the NRMP, the number of available residency positions this year was the highest in match history. This year, 30,543 applicants – also a record – vied for 22,809 first-year residency positions available. The number of students nationwide matching into family medicine residences rose 9 percent over 2009.