Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Class of 2016 Learns of Residency Placement During Nationally held Match Day

Jennifer Forbes
Communications & Public Affairs
732-235-6356
jenn.forbes@rwjms.rutgers.edu

March 18, 2016

New Brunswick, NJ – At noon today, elation shook the halls of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School as fourth-year medical students discovered where they would practice medicine as residents following graduation in May. Known nationally as Match Day, the students simultaneously opened envelopes that held the name of the residency program to which they “matched,” and where they will spend the next three to seven years training in the medical specialty of their choice. Of the students who participated, 94 percent of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s students matched to the residency program of their choice, tying the national average. The medical school has tied or exceeded the national match rate each year for more than 10 years.

“Today, as you stand at the precipice of the next step in your career, you are perfectly poised to add to the lives of others,” Sherine E. Gabriel, MD, MSc, dean of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School told the soon-to-be physicians, who were joined by family and friends at today’s celebration. “I encourage you to realize that the care and service that you give to others will reward you and fulfill your sense of humanity and pride throughout your career.”

Wylie Lopez grew up in Franklin Township, Somerset County. Originally encouraged by an English teacher at Franklin High School to work harder, it was a summer research program at Harvard that convinced him to go into orthopaedics. He will begin a five-year residency at Harvard University’s orthopaedic residency program at Massachusetts General Hospital in June.

“I can’t describe the feeling I have today,” Lopez said. “This is everything we [the Class of 2016] have been waiting for.”

There are 127 students graduating from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School on May 16, joining more than 5,500 of the school’s alumni worldwide. Nineteen percent of the graduating students matched to programs in New Jersey, and of these, 15 percent of the students matched to Rutgers Biomedical and Health Science programs.

Forty-three percent of the students matched into primary care programs including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology; 19 percent will be surgeons. Graduating students from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School will attend residency programs at Brigham and Women’s in Boston, Brown University, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Columbia University, Duke University, Harvard University, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, and Weill Cornell, among many others.

According to the National Residency Matching Program, which coordinates the matching process, more than 42,000 applicants participated in the 2016 Match, the largest in history.

About Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

As one of the nation's leading comprehensive medical schools, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the medical school's principal affiliate, comprise one of the nation's premier academic medical centers. In addition, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 34 other hospital affiliates and ambulatory care sites throughout the region.

Part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School encompasses 21 basic science and clinical departments, hosts centers and institutes including The Cardiovascular Institute, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey and the Women’s Health Institute. The medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels on its campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway and provides continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs. To learn more about Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, visit rwjms.rutgers.edu. Find us online at www.facebook.com/RWJMedicalSchool and www.twitter.com/RWJMS.