Today@Sam Article

SHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine Celebrates Inaugural Match Day

March 18, 2024
SHSU Media Contact: Mikah Boyd

The Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (SHSU-COM) celebrated Match Day on March 15 for the inaugural cohort of student doctors, which is set to graduate on May 9.

Match Day is a highly anticipated annual event for medical schools nationwide where student doctors simultaneously open envelopes or emails to learn their residency assignments for the final phase of their training in their chosen specialty.

The SHSU-COM cohort en-route to becoming doctors of osteopathic medicine (DO), joined their fellow medical school students in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) which uses a Nobel Prize-winning algorithm ranking system to match the preferences of medical students with the preferences of residency programs.

In this system, students rank residency programs where they would like to train, and likewise, residency programs rank the students they would like to accept. The algorithm compares the lists to establish a match, which is contractually binding. Over 40,000 residency training jobs were projected to be filled in this year’s national Match Day.

SHSU-COM hosted a Match Day celebration at The Woodlands Resort for student doctors, their families, friends and the faculty and staff to recognize  achievements and share the excitement of the momentous day. The students will complete their coursework and graduate in May and will join their new residency program in July.

“Match Day is the culmination of years of work on the part of the faculty, staff and clinical preceptors who have developed SHSU-COM as a new medical school with a solid curriculum and an outstanding network of community-based physicians dedicated to training the next generation of physicians,” said Thomas J. Mohr, DO, dean of SHSU-COM. “More importantly, this day highlights the incredible tenacity, tireless studying and long hours of patient care dedicated by our student doctors to pursue their lifelong dream of becoming doctors. We are so proud of them and all their efforts – they have worked so hard to get to this point.”

Match Day was an exciting time to bring the inaugural cohort together after they have been completing clerkship rotations in different locations during years three and four of their curriculum. Following graduation, they will each complete three to five years of postgraduate training in their residency programs before becoming board certified in their specialty.

“SHSU’s mission in establishing a medical school was to help fill the healthcare gap in rural areas of Texas. Many of our students will begin serving the Texas healthcare industry during their residencies,” Mohr said. “Other students will match and serve at prestigious programs nationwide, which speaks highly of the rigorous medical school education SHSU-COM is providing.”

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