Students from University of Maryland School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found out Friday where they will be spending their residencies.
The annual Match Day event is a rite of passage for graduating medical students, who will spend the next stage of their training in a residency program.
"It is sort of like Harry Potter and the sorting hat," said Manoj Racherla, a University of Maryland School of Medicine student.
And it's a day that medical students have been looking forward to for a long time.
"Today is the culmination of four years of a lot of hard work and it just feels so good to finally be standing in these shoes. I used to look at the fourth year students at match day and be like am I ever going to be there? Is this all going to work out? And I'm just so so thrilled that here I am, it's going to be good," said Jessie Werner, a University of Maryland School of Medicine student who was matched to Brown University.
One by one, 155 students in the University of Maryland School of Medicine took the stage to collect their envelopes detailing the next big step in their lives.
"I wasn't sure if I wanted to open it up on stage or just find out by myself, and once I got up there and everyone said open it up I went for it and I'm very glad I did," said Jonathan Danquah, who was matched to New York University School of Medicine.
Prior to Match Day, students complete paperwork and on-site interviews with hospitals, then provide a ranked list of their top choices.
"Residency is very much the most intense part of your training, you really dedicate as many hours as you can to make sure you're an experienced physician when you go off to be on your own," Racherla said.
Location is key to a lot of people, especially to Racherla, who was hoping to finish his medical training alongside his wife.
"We've been in a long distance relationship for the past five years and we got married a few months ago and it very much feels like the light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
Both Racherla and his wife's envelopes revealed they will be finishing their post-graduation training at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Johns Hopkins students are often matched with their first- or second-choice sites, according to the school.
The National Resident Matching Program was started in 1952 with the goal of matching the top choices of both residency programs and medical students.
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