The noise of tearing envelopes resonated through George Hall at noon on Friday as fourth-year students at the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership opened their correspondence for Match Day.

Tommy Johnston and Ashley Catanzerite received a couples match to Wake Forest University in orthopedic surgery and otolaryngology, respectively, during Match Day for students in the AU/UGA Medical Partnership at George Hall on the Health Sciences Campus. (Chamberlain Smith/UGA)

Within each envelope was an individualized letter disclosing where the student would continue their postgraduate medical training.

“This marks our 12th Match Day at the Medical Partnership, and we are extremely proud of this cohort. We eagerly anticipate witnessing all the remarkable accomplishments each of you will achieve throughout your careers,” expressed Dean Shelley Nuss. “We appreciate the faculty, administrators, staff, and physician mentors in our community who have invested their time and efforts in shaping our future doctors.”

Match Day is an annual occasion that occurs after students attend interviews and visit residency programs in Georgia and nationwide. To establish their postgraduation placements, students ranked residency programs in which they desired to train, while the residency programs evaluated the student applicants. These rankings are then forwarded to the nonprofit organization National Resident Matching Program located in Washington, D.C., which employs an algorithm to synchronize the preferences of the applicants with those of the residency programs. The majority of students were matched through the NRMP, although some took part in smaller matching programs, including ophthalmology. The final assignments are revealed simultaneously across the U.S. at noon on Match Day.

Erica Brownfield, senior associate dean for the new UGA School of Medicine, and Dean Shelley Nuss during Match Day for students in the AU/UGA Medical Partnership at George Hall on the Health Sciences Campus. (Chamberlain Smith/UGA)

Students from the Class of 2025 will be heading to 17 states plus Washington, D.C., in 15 specialties, with 65% staying in the southern region of the United States. Seventy percent will be entering primary care/core specialty programs — defined by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce as internal medicine, family medicine, OB-GYN, pediatrics, psychiatry, general surgery, and emergency medicine — which represents the highest rate in the history of the Medical Partnership.

“The achievements of these gifted 46 students have secured them positions at prestigious residency programs nationwide, and 70% are venturing into primary care and core specialties, which is vital to address our ongoing physician shortage,” stated Nuss.

The most sought-after specialties from the Medical Partnership Class of 2025 encompass internal medicine (15), psychiatry (6), family medicine (3), OB-GYN (3), pathology (3), and orthopedic surgery (3).

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