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Albany Medical College Students Excel on "Match Day"

Albany, N.Y., March 20, 2008 - Albany Medical College officials and most fourth-year medical students attending the "Match Day" event today were all smiles as “residency placement” envelopes were distributed and opened at the stroke of noon. This was the process whereby the soon-to-be-graduates learned where they will spend the next few years of their life receiving their advanced medical training, and for the vast majority of them it was a joyous occasion.

“Our students continue each year to be placed in some of the best programs in the country, while a large percentage choose to remain at the Albany Medical Center Hospital. This is a direct reflection of the quality of our students and the education received here,” said Henry Pohl, M.D., vice dean of academic administration.

There was also good “Match Day” news for Albany Medical Center Hospital, which filled all 86 of its available first-year residency positions. Fourteen of the available positions will be filled by Albany Medical College students, who will train in programs including anesthesiology, orthopedic surgery and general surgery.

The 132 Albany Medical College students matched on “National Match Day” to such prestigious institutions as Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education and Baylor College of Medicine. Forty-two students (31 percent) were matched to programs in New York State, including 10 percent who were matched at Albany Medical Center Hospital. Nearly half of this year’s class—49 percent—entered into primary care specialties, including family practice, internal medicine, medicine/pediatrics, pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology.

Albany Medical College students gathered in the Albany Law School gymnasium and enthusiastically opened the envelopes containing the name of the institution where they will receive advanced training after receiving their medical degree this May. Following medical school, physicians enter residency programs for an additional three to seven years of training. A resident is a physician who has graduated from medical school and is undergoing specialized training in a medical specialty. Residency assignments begin in July. The ceremony was held at the law school gym to accommodate the large number of students and family members who attend.

Fourth-year medical students apply to several residency programs in a specific specialty while residency programs rank the students they have interviewed. Students and programs are then “matched” by computer by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

Albany Med’s residency programs in anesthesiology, emergency medicine, family practice, general surgery, internal medicine, medicine/pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedic surgery, pathology, pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, plastic surgery, preliminary surgery, preliminary medicine, psychiatry, neurology, otolaryngology and radiology all participate in the NRMP.

Albany Medical College, which was founded in 1839 as one of the nation’s first private medical schools, has nearly 700 students. The College trains medical students and provides continuing medical education programs for area physicians. In addition to medical degrees, the College also offers master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral programs in the basic and clinical sciences, which includes educating nurse anesthetists and physician assistants.
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