School-Record 99% of Seniors Seeking Residency Earn Match, Graduate to Strong Placements Across the Nation

Many things have understandably changed in the last few months, as medical schools continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical school students have been among those adapting nobly to the current circumstances.

Yet as the Class of 2020 concludes their medical school training despite these unusual disruptions, one thing that hasn't changed is that College of Human Medicine graduates continue to move on to some of the most competitive residency placements across the country. 

It's time for another great group of #SpartanMD physicians to enter the workforce and, in fact, some already have. This past March, Michigan State University announced a swift move to make graduating health care students available in the COVID-19 response. Whereas students typically begin their residency positions in July, a group of CHM graduates were among the 350 health care workers to enter the workforce before the end of April.

The announcement came shortly after yet another strong Match Day for CHM grads, albeit a virtual one. In fact, it was our strongest showing. A CHM-record 99% of our students matched in residencies through the 2020 National Resident Matching Program, Military Match and Advanced Match. Following social distancing directives, students across all seven College of Human Medicine community campuses connected online to share their Match Day experiences through social media.

See: CHM Students Discuss Their Match Experience

The record-high match percentage is also significant for another reason. After being implemented in 2016, this group of graduates was the first class to go through the Shared Discovery Curriculum. That's a fantastic sign for the direction of our innovative style of medical training, which emphasizes methods that are better-suited for adult learning.

Match Day, as always, was a grand day of celebration after such a great showing for the college in an overall great showing across the nation. The 2020 Main Residency Match was the largest in National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) history, once again topping the previous year's records totals in both registrants and positions. Nearly 45,860 applicants registered to match for just over 37,250 positions, the most ever offered in the Match.

See: NRMP Main Residency Match Results and Data

Of the 199 seniors seeking residency, 197 of our newest Spartan MD's will join departments from coast to coast. Twenty-six states were represented as well as the nation's capital. Still, a sizeable chunk of graduates (43.7%) will be proudly joining Michigan health teams for their residency training, up from just over 38% a year ago.

Over 42% of seniors with placements are entering primary care residencies, a slight dip from the 44.3% of graduates who entered primary care residencies in 2019. They'll be entering primary care fields such as family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics to name a few. Still, specialties like anesthesiology, neurology, orthopaedic surgery, pathology, psychiatry, and more are an important part of modern medicine and thus are also among those represented in the data.

For those wondering, the top six specialties placements for the class of 2020 are as follows:
1. Family Medicine (38 graduates)
2. Internal Medicine (26 graduates)
3. Emergency Medicine (18 graduates)
4. Surgery-General (17 graduates)
5. Pediatrics (16 graduates)
6. Obstetrics & Gynecology (15 graduates)

Yet for most of the graduating class, commencement (and perhaps a celebration or two) comes before their official residency appointments in July. Students, family, friends, and the general public were all invited to join the virtual commencement ceremony in honor of the Class of 2020 at a virtual graduation program.

Despite being physically distanced, commencement is always a special day, shared by graduates and their families. While this certainly signifies an amazing achievement, it also signifies the next step in a medical career.

The Class of 2020 embarks on the medical profession in unusual times, where health systems are overloaded and outcomes are uncertain. But this is also a time where physicians are needed most and graduates will be able to quickly use their expertise to the benefit of patients young and old. The fruits of labor will benefit families and communities for generations.

One thing the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated is the critical importance of addressing questions of health disparities and health equity. As our college's mission statement shows, a major focus of the medical school is to educate physicians who want to work with underserved populations. Thus, CHM graduates are uniquely positioned to be responsive to and best meet the needs of extremely diverse populations in Michigan and beyond.

There's no denying that right now is a challenging time. This is why we have physicians. This is why we have Public Health professionals and medical researchers. As said by an American Medical Association member and graduating medical student in this March AMA post about bolstering the workforce with new graduates: “This is an incredible opportunity for [medical students] to fulfill the oath we took when we entered med school. It’s a professional privilege to contribute to the greater good. This is why I chose medicine, to help others especially when they need it most.”

The College of Human Medicine faculty and staff are confident that this next crop of CHM graduates are well-prepared to make meaningful impacts in the lives of each patient they encounter. Congrats, Spartan MD! We wish the Class of 2020 the best of luck.