Baylor College of Medicine fourth-year medical students gathered in the courtyard with friends and family to learn where they matched for their residency program.
Baylor students learn next step in medical training at 2025 Match Day
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Fourth-year medical students at Baylor College of Medicine gathered on the school’s lawn with family, friends and educational leaders on a beautiful, blue-sky Texas spring day to learn where they will spend the next three to seven years for their residency training.
Match Day, held today at U.S. medical schools, culminates the annual National Resident Match Program that pairs fourth-year medical students with residency programs throughout the nation. At Baylor, 194 students participated in the match, and 70 of them – 36 percent – will begin their residencies in the primary care fields of family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, medicine/pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology or emergency medicine. Forty-seven students will continue their training in residencies at Baylor College of Medicine, and 83 matched at residency programs in Texas.
During a brief program leading up to opening of the envelopes containing students’ matches, Baylor President, CEO and Executive Dean Dr. Paul Klotman reminded this class, as he does each class, that it’s called Match Day, not selection day.
“If you didn’t match with your first choice, that means they didn’t particularly want you. But the one where you did match, they love you and so that is the perfect place for you,” Klotman said. “You will do better at an institution that really wants you,” he said, suggesting that students show swag but not arrogance as they represent Baylor College of Medicine going forward in their training and careers.
Dr. Jennifer Christner, senior dean of the School of Medicine and School of Health Professions, acknowledged Baylor’s affiliate institutions where students do clinical rotations during medical school. “You trained in the best place in the entire country, and our affiliates are so much a part of that.”
Class of 2025 President Adel Hassan addressed his classmates before the match envelops were revealed, expressing his pride in their training so far.
“I am incredibly proud to stand here with you today. You have been an amazing class, and it’s been an honor to watch your achievements,” Hassan said. “Each and every one is going to be an amazing doctor with your own unique strengths. Wherever your envelope takes you, there will be patients who have spent countless hours driving to the hospital, sitting in the waiting room, lying awake in their hospital beds, and all that time, they were hoping for one thing: to get the best doctor possible. And that doctor will be you.”
Dr. Lee Poythress, associate dean of student affairs, called students to the large board where their envelopes were posted, telling their parents and family in attendance that these students represent the finest in the country. Hassan led a countdown to 11 a.m. and students finally were able to pull their envelope from the colorful board to learn of their match. Hassan matched at UT Southwestern, his top choice.
Thomas Bini was one of the 47 students who matched at Baylor College of Medicine, where he will train in anesthesiology. “It felt like home here. I really enjoyed my educational experience at Baylor and all of my mentors. I’m excited to be at Baylor.”
William Porter and Chelsea Godfrey also matched at Baylor, both with the Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program, or med-peds, a four-year residency that provides the skill necessary to diagnose and manage both adult and pediatric conditions. For Porter, the strength of the program attracted him most, while Godfrey appreciated proximity to the support of her family and partner.
Once the envelopes were torn open, students posed for photos, celebrated with classmates and loved ones and marked with a pin the location of their residency on a map board.
Find photos of Baylor’s Match Day here.
