‘’Banner year’ for primary care residencies’

A school known for educating primary care physicians lived up to its reputation Thursday as three-quarters of fourth-year medical students matched into primary care medical residencies during Match Day at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.

Of the 69 students participating, 23 percent are headed into a residency in family medicine, 25 percent are going into internal medicine, 10 percent are going into internal medicine/pediatrics, 16 percent are going into pediatrics and 1 percent is going into internal medicine/family medicine.

Maliena Dowd calls a friend after learning she’s headed to the University of South Florida in Tampa for a residency in pediatrics. To see where all students are going, click here. Photo

Another 3 percent each are going into obstetrics/gynecology and medicine-preliminary.

For a complete residency match list, click here. “Our tradition of primary care medicine was really on the forefront this year,” said Dr. Julius Mallette, senior associate dean at the medical school, who added it was “a ‘banner year for primary care residencies.’”

Last year, 57 percent of students matched into primary care or OB/GYN residencies.

Once medical students graduate from a four-year medical school, they must continue their training in a residency program. The National Residency Match Program is a private, not-for-profit organization that 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.

Class members matched to 42 institutions in 22 states. Forty-two percent of the class chose to remain in North Carolina, and 20 percent of the class matched to ECU/Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

Mario Ingram received the first envelope to a round of cheers and applause from his classmates, their family and friends, and Brody School of Medicine faculty and staff members. He will be going to Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans for a general internal medicine residency.

Sisters Aimee and Arlene Chung also participated in the match. Both are goin’g into medicine/pediatrics, Aimee at Duke University and Arlene at PCMH. Their father, Dr. Wan Soo Chung, a family medicine physician in Williamston, beamed with pride that both daughters were going into primary care and that both were pleased with their match results. Both are also Brody Scholars at the medical school.

One of loudest shrieks of excitement might have come from Kristel Jernigan, who learned she will be going to Brown University in Providence, R.I., for her internal medicine residency. “”I’’m excited and overwhelmed,”” said the native of Washington, N.C. “”I didn’t sleep last night. I’’ve been waiting for this for a long time.””

Stuart Jennings of New Bern will be going with his wife, a doctoral student, to the University of Kentucky.

“”My wife got into the Ph.D.-in-literature program, so we made a mutual decision,”” Jennings said.