In a year of change, Match Day traditions continue at RowanSOM

Every medical school student looks forward to two distinctive days, both steeped in traditions. At the White Coat Ceremony, held at the beginning of their medical education, students receive their first white lab coat, symbolizing their acceptance into the medical community.

Match Day, held on the third Friday in March, is even more highly anticipated. On Match Day, fourth-year medical students across America gather at noon, Eastern time, to simultaneously learn where they will serve their residency training, in essence, their first jobs as physicians.

For the Class of 2021 at the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (RowanSOM), the White Coat ceremony was every bit the tradition they anticipated. Four years ago, on a balmy summer Sunday afternoon, they walked across the stage to accept their white coats and begin their training to become the next generation of America’s physicians.

In contrast, this year’s Match Day was far from traditional. An entirely virtual affair, the Class of 2021 connected online with family, friends, supporters, and each other to hear messages from senior administrators, faculty and fellow students, view a class highlights video, and, at the appointed time, open the email messages that held the news that culminated their medical school experience. While the COVID pandemic forced a similar virtual Match Day program last year, the Class of 2021 will forever be distinguished as the first medical school graduates in more than a century who completed a large portion of their training as the world raced to thwart the scourge of a worldwide pandemic.

Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, Dean of RowanSM, acknowledged these facts in his congratulatory message while calling attention to the continuation of important Match Day traditions at RowanSOM.

“This is a day we have been waiting for, because we know how important it is to you,” he said. “Despite difficult conditions that you have had to navigate this past year, your class has continued our proud tradition of matching to competitive, high-quality and highly competitive residency programs across the country.”

Among the significant results he noted:

• The overall match rate for Class of 2021 exceeded 97 percent, well above the national average of 92.8 percent.
• More than half the class – 54.4 percent – matched to primary care, a specialty that will be particularly hard hit as the country confronts a massive physician shortage. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, that shortage could range from 61,000 to nearly 95,000 physicians by the year 2025.
• More than 45 percent of the RowanSOM Class of 2021 will continue their training in New Jersey based residency programs, an important indicator of where they will ultimately practice their profession.

In keeping with another tradition at the school, RowanSOM students also matched at several prestigious programs nationwide wide, including Georgetown University (Neurology), Fox Chase Cancer Center (Radiation Oncology), Baylor University (Emergency Medicine), Johns Hopkins University (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation), and Columbia University Medical Center (Family Medicine).