Medical school seniors around the country will simultaneously learn at 11am CT (12pm ET) on March 17th where they will complete their specialty training for the next three to seven years following graduation. Amid an air of intense anticipation shared with their fellow classmates and families, each student will receive a sealed envelope whose letter reveals their destiny. This year, our seniors will be holding their Match Day event at Club XLIV and Encore adjacent to the Caesar’s Superdome – doors open at 10:00am CT, and the ceremony will begin at 10:30 am. But Match Day itself is the culmination of an intense process that began last May with a formal meeting for each student’s Medical School Performance Evaluation (previously known as a Dean’s Letter.) This was followed by weeks spent refining a personal statement and compiling a curriculum vitae. All these documents and national licensing exam (Step exam) results were then provided to the National Residency Matching Program (“the Match”) which in turn allowed program directors to review the applications and choose the students they wished to interview. Interviews started in June and ran through August. During these same months, seniors were also busy completing their required rotations and electives. Many students complete rotations (“away rotations”) at programs of interest to them. This affords both the student and the program the opportunity to gain additional exposure to one other. Finally, during the month of February, each senior ranks the programs for which interviews were held; in turn, the programs rank the applicants it interviewed. The NRMP uses a computerized mathematical algorithm, the “matching algorithm,” to place applicants into the most preferred residency at programs that also prefer them. The Match process in some fashion has been used to match students with residency training programs for seventy years, so our seniors will experience a rite of passage familiar to several generations of physicians.
Tulane students have traditionally done well, with many students matching to highly competitive programs throughout the United States. Anxiety runs high during this time and reaches its peak by Match Day, so they will likely appreciate some extra support and encouragement leading up to March 17th.
MATCH DAY 2023
Friday, March 17, 2023
10:00 AM CT
Club XLIV & Encore
Lasalle St., New Orleans, LA 70112
Doors open at 10:00AM CT
Ceremony begins at 10:30AM
Match Day will be live-streamed and a link will be available on the Student Affairs website.
You have just read about your senior’s upcoming Match Day, but it’s not too soon to think about the excitement of graduation. All graduates will have their degrees conferred by President Mike Fitts in a Unified Commencement the evening of May 20th, but the School of Medicine holds its own Diploma Ceremony in the afternoon that same day in the Morial Convention Center.
Please consult the Student Affairs page for additional information and FAQ about our School of Medicine Diploma Ceremony:https://medicine.tulane.edu/student-affairs/graduation.
