Filling Local and Nationwide Health Care Needs
Match Day: A Milestone Moment
The Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine is celebrating its fifth Match Day in 10 years of training homegrown health care providers to improve access to care in Washington’s medically underserved communities.
Match Day is a major milestone in each medical student’s journey to becoming an independently practicing physician. After a months-long application process, medical students across the country are paired with residency programs through the National Resident Matching Program. Each year on the third Friday of March, students learn where they will continue their medical training and hone their skills in their specialty of choice as resident physicians.
MD Program: The Next Step for WSU’s Coug Doctors
Among this year’s class, nearly 70% will remain in the western U.S. for their residencies. That includes 41.2%, or 28 students, staying in Washington. A desire to stay in the state reflects a commitment among students to the college’s mission to improve access to care in Washington communities, as doctors are more likely to practice medicine where they complete their residency training, research shows.
Students who placed outside of Washington won’t be gone for long. WSU’s MD program admits applicants with ties to Washington who demonstrate an interest in serving our state’s communities as physicians, a process that has shown success as most of the inaugural class are now practicing in Washington.
Many of this year’s class hope to make an impact by improving access to specialty care in Washington communities.
“I am eager to serve rural communities in Washington as an interventional radiologist, where access to specialized health care can be limited,” said Petr Gaburak, a fourth-year medical student who matched into an interventional radiology residency at the University of California Davis Medical Center, a partnership with Spokane Teaching Health Center. “By bringing advanced imaging and minimally invasive procedures to these areas, I aim to improve patient outcomes and enhance the quality of care.”
In addition to specialty care, communities across the state and country face a shortage of primary care physicians. This year, 47% of the Class of 2025, or 32 students, chose primary care specialties. This included 11 matches in family medicine, 11 in internal medicine, five in pediatrics, four in OB/GYN, and one in internal medicine-pediatrics.
“I have always known that I wanted to go into primary care,” said Ali Vyhmeister, a fourth-year medical student who matched into a family medicine residency at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Chehalis, Washington. “I was drawn to family medicine because of the wide scope of practice that it offers and the unique opportunity to develop long-term, multigenerational relationships with patients and their families.”
Each medical student’s journey is unique. Visit our Match Day website to learn more about our students and their plans to serve communities in our region and beyond.
Graduate Medical Education: Welcoming New Doctors to Washington
Match Day also means that the WSU College of Medicine welcomes soon-to-be medical school graduates from across the country who will continue their training in our Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs, bringing more doctors to Washington communities.