Students at Maine’s medical school celebrate residency placements

Cheers and happy tears abounded as the clock struck noon on Friday, March 15, as 163 graduating students from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM) learned where their paths will take them when they leave UNE this spring.

Maine’s medical students came together in the Harold Alfond Forum on UNE’s Biddeford Campus in celebration of the annual Match Day, the date each year when participating fourth-year medical students from around the country learn where they will be completing their medical residencies, and in what specialties, following graduation. 

UNE’s event is part of Match Day celebrations across the nation, as students vying for slots in the National Residency Match Program find out their placements. Students in the UNE COM Class of 2024 opened envelopes listing their matches to applause from family, friends, and peers.

The Class of 2024 boasted an exceptionally high residency placement rate: 99%, far above than the national averages for both allopathic medical schools (93.5%) and other osteopathic medical schools (92.3%). 

Over half (54%) of fourth-year medical students matched to primary care specialties, including pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, and OB-GYN. Others will undertake residencies in emergency medicine, general surgery, and psychiatry, among other disciplines.

Gwendolyn Mahon, UNE’s provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, reflected on Match Day as one of UNE’s “most treasured traditions.”

“This event fills me with so much optimism for the future,” Mahon said. “To see so much talent embodied in our medical students and to reflect on the profound differences they’ll make in people’s lives across the country is truly awe-inspiring. You are going to do amazing work, and I know you will continue to represent UNE exceptionally well.”

Jane Carreiro, D.O., vice president for Health Affairs and dean of UNE COM, encouraged students to take chances in achieving their dreams of becoming physicians.

“The journey that took me here was not straight,” she remarked about becoming dean following a successful career in medicine. “When you open your envelopes, remember to please hang onto your dream. … (but) don’t hold onto it so tightly that you don’t let life take you on a fabulous journey, (one) that is not anything you planned or expected but that, when you look back on it, you’re going to be so excited that you took the path that you took.”

The College of Osteopathic Medicine is Maine’s only medical school and has been ranked in the Top 10 medical schools where graduates are most likely to match with their first-choice residency program. The college is ranked in the Top 20 medical schools nationwide for producing primary care residents and is included in the 2023 Best Medical Schools for Research by U.S. News and World Report.

See media coverage at the Portland Press Herald, WGME CBS 13, and NEWS CENTER Maine.