Match Day: Medical Students Learn Where They're Headed For Residency Program
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Friday was a big day for medical students across the country as they found out where they would be headed off to for their residency.
Medical School Match Day ceremonies were held at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden.
As the clock struck noon, 73 students tore open their envelopes and shared the news of where they were headed off to for the next several years of training with friends and family members sharing hugs, high fives and tears of joy.
Students were placed in medical facilities across the country.
Darshan Patel had lady luck on his side. He is originally from Albuquerque, and he'll be headed back to New Mexico for a family medicine residency and he'll also get to reunite with some family.
"I am looking forward, in fact we were face-timing them live," Patel said. "So they saw me open the envelope. So they're excited to have their uncle there with them."
Ryan DeAngelis of Robbinsville, New Jersey, is staying close to home after being placed at the University of Pennsylvania. DeAngelis says he's been waiting for this moment since watching former students open their envelopes two years ago.
"Leading up to this whole week everything was just so perfect, and this is just like the cherry on top," he said. "You know, I'm here with all my closest friends. My best friend James is going to be a surgeon, and we just found that out now. And it's just so surreal."
Twenty-six percent of the class will be staying in the Garden State, and 12 of them will be staying in Camden after being placed at Cooper.
At the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, 151 medical students celebrated Match Day.
With cheers and hugs, these medical students celebrated the culmination of years of hard work.
"I'm staying right where I belong, right here at Penn!" one student exclaimed.
For some, the journey started differently.
Jonathan Wood, who is pursuing a joint MD/MBA degree, began medical school at Penn after serving nearly eight years in the Air Force.
"I came to med school specifically to do community development and primary care in poorer communities. That's the mission I'm really excited about," Wood said.
And now he's headed to his top choice: Lancaster General Hospital for family medicine — proof, he says, that it's never too late to pursue your passion.
"Go for it. Life is short but it's not that short and there's plenty of time after age 30 to start something new," he said.
For others, something new became something they'd never want to leave. Caitlin Azzo of West Virginia is staying at Penn for emergency medicine.
"I came to Philly for the first time for med school and kind of fell in love with it. It was my first choice and I'm so happy to stay," Azzo said.
What began as their dream now brings another destination on the path to a career in medicine.
