Nearly 300 students from both the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) and the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership in Athens took the next step in their medical careers on Friday morning at Match Day, the long-awaited moment when they finally learned where they had matched for their post-grad residency program.
Prior to Match Day, these students had participated in interviews with residency programs and subsequently ranked them according to their preferences, as did the residency programs. The National Resident Matching Program utilizes a computer system that compares these ranked lists and assigns each student to a residency program.
Every year Match Day includes a costume theme, this year’s being “Heroes and Villains.” Students and college staff made sure to show out, dressed like their favorite characters.
The big reveal
The culmination of Match Day was a collective envelope opening at exactly noon.
When Sedia Beysolow opened her envelope on Match Day, she was shocked to find that she had matched with her number one pick, Brown University in Rhode Island.
“I’m very excited and happy…it is very surreal, I can’t believe it. I keep on looking at the paper,” she said.
Beysolow is pursuing a career in pediatrics, and will potentially specialize in hematology oncology.
Queen Abure, MCG’s 2025 class president, also received good news – she’ll be attending a residency program at University of California San Francisco, her top choice.
“It’s great, it’s honestly the best feeling ever, I don’t think anything can compare to it,” she said.
She reminisced briefly on the good and bad of medical school: “I remember when we were crying in like, the CBL (Case-based Learning) rooms, or study rooms at 2 a.m.…now, seeing where everybody’s gonna end up is really a full circle moment and I’m proud of everyone.”
Isabela Pabkov said her and her classmates have been anticipating this moment for a long time.
“Then you just open an envelope, it’s like okay, now we’re done, now I know…but it’s been super exciting and it’s super great to see all my friends achieve their dreams too,” Pabkov said.
Pabkov is headed to a residency program at her second choice, Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Va. She plans to specialize in General Surgery and is looking at around 5-7 years in the residency program.
Students matched in 29 states in 30 specialities ranging from pediatrics to psychiatry to emergency medicine. Twenty four percent will remain in Georgia for their first postgraduate year, while 20% will remain in Georgia for their second postgraduate year.
Motherhood through medical school
Before residency matches were revealed, Jessica McElrath shared a little bit about her journey in medical college.
McElrath, who is pursuing family medicine, got pregnant at the beginning of her clinical rotations, and her daughter Millie has been by her side through some of the most important parts of her medical school journey.
“It’s all about family support…it takes a village of people,” McElrath said when asked about the balance between motherhood and academia.
She added that she hopes Millie will grow up knowing that she can accomplish great things if she tries.
“I would just want her to know that whatever she wants to do in her life, if she just works hard and puts her mind to it, then she’ll be able to succeed,” McElrath said.
