Less than two months before graduation, fourth-year students at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) discovered that their years of hard work and dedication paid off. The Class of 2023 attained a perfect residency placement rate, with all 176 students receiving spots in residency programs.
Students at the state’s largest medical school learned of their 100 percent residency placement rate on March 17, a day designated as Match Day by the National Resident Matching Program, the organization responsible for placing medical school graduates into residency programs. On Match Day, which typically falls on the third Friday of March, students preparing to graduate learn where they will complete residencies.
James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, congratulated soon-to-be-graduates on their success.
“I continue to be amazed at the accomplishments of our students,” Nemitz said. “This class entered medical school just months before the COVID-19 pandemic became an international public health emergency, and the fact that its members have not only weathered the additional challenges but achieved a perfect residency placement is worth celebrating. I couldn’t be more proud of the Class of 2023 and of the faculty and staff who have helped them become competent, compassionate osteopathic physicians.”
After completing medical school, new physicians serve in residency programs for three to seven years to qualify for medical licensure. During this time, physicians are trained in the specialty they will spend their careers practicing.
While WVSOM is renowned for producing primary care physicians, graduates of the school can practice in any specialty.
A total of 105 students in the Class of 2023, or 60 percent, are entering primary care residency programs, encompassing the specialties of family practice, internal medicine and pediatrics. A total of 44 students matched to family practice residencies, 39 matched to internal medicine, 20 matched to pediatrics and two matched to internal medicine/pediatrics, in which physicians train to become board certified in both specialties.
Other popular specialties for members of the Class of 2023 include emergency medicine, with 25 students; psychiatry, with 12 students; general surgery, with eight students; and orthopedic surgery, with five students.
Linda Boyd, D.O., the school’s vice president for academic affairs and dean, praised students and employees for their work in reaching the100 percent residency placement.
“We’re proud of our Class of 2023 graduates. The students, along with WVSOM’s graduate medical education career advising team, worked all year to ensure graduates’ success in attaining their best match,” she said.
WVSOM’s Class of 2023 Commencement Ceremony will take place May 5.
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