PHILADELPHIA – On March 17, people all over the world will take part in the international celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. But this year, for fourth year medical students at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, March 17 will forever hold a whole new meaning for “luck” and “celebration.” At the stroke of noon on Thursday, 147 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine students (75 women and 72 men) will gather in an emotion-filled ceremony to open their “residency placement” envelopes and learn where they will spend the next few years receiving their advanced medical training.
Known as “Match Day,” the annual ceremony is the culmination of a process that began in the fall through the National Residency Matching Program, which helps pair graduating medical students with the hospital or medical center of their choice. For many students, it will be a very “lucky” day when they match to their chosen residency program and they will “celebrate” the culmination of years of hard work with family and friends.
This year, three of Penn’s medical students will share their thoughts and perspectives during this exciting week of their lives – in their own written words, and on video – via a special Match Day blog and live tweets throughout the day. Family, friends, and news media can follow the excitement via the blog and by using the #PennMatch hashtag on Twitter.
Held each year on the third Thursday in March, Match Day was established in 1952, at the request of medical students, to provide a fair and impartial transition to the graduate medical education experience.
WHERE: |
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Dunlop Auditorium - Stemmler Hall
3450 Hamilton Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Across the courtyard from the Rhoads Pavilion at HUP |
WHEN: |
March 17, 2011
12 p.m. – 1 p.m. |
WHO: |
Introduction by Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, Executive Vice President for the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Dean of the School of Medicine |
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.