Medical students learn residency matches, more stay in northwest Ohio

March 21, 2012 | News, UToday
By Jon Strunk



As pieces of shredded envelopes hit the floor, the roars of excitement and joy from 164 University of Toledo fourth-year medical students and their families filled Stranahan Theater.

James Bomer, a fourth-year medical student and northwest Ohio native, smiled for the camera as he learned he will continue his education in the region after matching to complete his residency in family medicine at Toledo Hospital.

March 16 was Match Day this year and at precisely noon, UT students joined medical peers across the country in learning where they will complete their residencies and spend the next three to seven years of their lives.

“One of the things we’re most excited about is that we’ve seen a 69 percent increase in the number of UT residents who will complete their graduate medical education in northwest Ohio,” said Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, chancellor, executive vice president for biosciences and health affairs, and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences.

A total of 27 students will enter residencies in northwest Ohio, up from 16 last year. These new doctors will practice at The University of Toledo Medical Center (for the fourth year in a row the most popular choice by UT medical students), Toledo Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Vincent Medical Center.

Student James Bomer grew up in Oregon, Ohio, earned his bachelor’s degree at UT, and after he graduates from the College of Medicine, he will complete his residency in family medicine at Toledo Hospital.

“It’s home here,” Bomer said. “I grew up here in Toledo; I want to stay in the area, and Toledo Hospital has a very good family medicine program.”

Overall, UT will send 20 new doctors into emergency medicine residencies, 11 into orthopedic surgery, nine into physical medicine and rehabilitation, eight into neurology, and two into plastic surgery, all record highs for the College of Medicine.

“We still have much more work to do, but it is clear we’re on the right path to recruiting and retaining more of our College of Medicine graduates in northwest Ohio,” Gold said.

Dr. Patricia Metting, senior vice chancellor and associate dean for student affairs, noted that UT and the region finds itself in a bit of a catch-22 as the quality of UT medical graduates continues to rise and they become more sought after.

“It is a bit of a double-edged sword,” Metting said. “We want them to stay in the region, but when they are matching at some of the most prestigious hospitals and institutions in the country, you can certainly understand why they would take those opportunities.”

UT students will practice at Yale University, Beth Israel Deaconess/Harvard, the University of Michigan, the University of Colorado and Georgetown, just to name a few.
Chinwe Nwosu matched at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore and will complete her residency in anesthesia.

“They seem to be on the cutting edge in anesthesia research and technology, and I just had a very good feeling when I visited them,” she said.

Students spend months interviewing at residency programs across the country, searching for the ideal place to learn their chosen specialties. Students ranked their top institutional choices, and academic medical centers across the country ranked their top student choices. A computer program administered by the National Resident Matching Program then puts together the students and residency programs.

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