Friday, March 15, 2024
Byline: LUCOM Marketing
Alongside all medical schools nationally, Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) celebrated its fourth-year student-doctor class inside the Montview Ballroom on the campus of Liberty University on Friday, March 15, during the annual Match Day that saw LUCOM achieve a 100 percent match in 2024.
It was the second time in the last three years that LUCOM achieved a 100 percent match rate at the conclusion of Match Week.
The day is a culmination of medical schools guiding their senior students through the four-year curriculum. The event is a significant milestone for medical students as they receive their future assignment for residency placement, often referred to as the phase of Graduate Medical Education (GME), the specialty training that follows medical school graduation.
According to the National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®), a total of 50,413 applicants registered in the 2024 Main Residency Match, an all-time high and increase of 2,257 or 4.7 percent over last year. The rise in applicants was driven largely by an increase of 1,986 non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates (IMGs) and 623 osteopathic (DO) seniors over last year.
The NRMP was established in 1952 at the request of medical students. The private, nonprofit organization uses a computer-based algorithm to match the preferences of fourth-year medical students with the preferences of residency program directors. The NRMP also conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 60 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service.
The Match process begins every summer as students enter their fourth year of medical school and apply and interview to numerous residency programs throughout the country offering specialty training in medical and surgical specialties. Medical students and program directors rank programs and applicants, respectively, in order of preference and submit the preference lists to the NRMP.
LUCOM had 146 student-doctors match into 14 different specialties. 67.8 percent of students matched into a primary care specialty which includes Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as Psychiatry. Other specialties students matched in were Emergency Medicine, Transitional, Anesthesiology, Neurology, General Surgery, Pathology, Orthopedic Surgery, Urology and EM/Family Medicine. In addition to these specialties some students also matched into PGY2 specialties of Diagnostic Radiology, Dermatology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
These soon to be physicians will be serving communities across 34 different states. This includes the top 5 states of Virginia, which had 28 students match, California, Pennsylvania and South Carolina with 10 each and ending with nine in Ohio.
Liberty University President Dondi Costin made remarks regarding Match Day.
“My familiarity with LUCOM’s faculty, staff, and students makes the news completely unsurprising, but I join my colleagues on the mountain in celebrating this extraordinary accomplishment,” President Costin said. “In the spirit of March Madness, nothing says ‘champion’ quite like a match rate of 100 percent. Maybe we should call it Match Madness! When we say we train champions for Christ at Liberty, this is exactly what we mean.”
After the clock struck noon, LUCOM Dean Joseph R. Johnson, DO, FACOOG (Dist) addressed the students on behalf of Liberty University and its leadership.
“We are so excited for our Liberty College of Osteopathic Medicine medical students in this 2024 match,” Johnson stated. “What an exciting group of students who have consistently met the challenges on their road to being a physician that will treat the mind, body and spirit of all those patients they serve. A part of your heart will always be left here at Liberty University as the mentors, faculty, staff and relationships that you have formed will be a tug on agape love you will share with future patients. Please remember we are always ready to give a bedside consult in encouragement as you will be the new standard of evidence-based care. God Bless a 100 percent LUCOM Match Day!”
LUCOM Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Randy Litman, DO, MBA, FACOFP, HPF, FAAO, FACOI congratulated the Class of 2024 and shared how much of a blessing it is for students to secure a residency program through the Match.
“I looked upon members of the Class of 2024,” Litman said. “God has started to close the LUCOM door for them, and in his divine intervention He has preserved the destiny of many, as He opens the next one. Why? Because he knows these people are worth so much more! I praise you for your achievements. Many Blessings Class of 2024!”
Fourth-year student Logan Haley was thrilled to find out that he will be able to stay close to family matching at Lynchburg Family Medicine in Lynchburg, Va.
“Lynchburg Family Medicine was my number one choice and I’m so excited,” Logan opened. “It’s always been the dream and now it’s a reality. It’s so nice to have family in the area and pour back into a community that poured into us so much is amazing. I’m excited to get started.”
Logan also spoke about the ceremony.
“The ceremony was amazing,” Logan continued. “There was a lot of suspense for me, just opening the letter, but it was nice to see friends that I haven’t seen in a while and enjoy some great food. I was nervous, but overall, it’s exciting to know where I matched and it’s exciting to see where everyone else matched as well.”
Bryan Berguson was ecstatic to be couples matched in the same location as his wife at Geisinger Internal Medicine in Pennsylvania.
“It’s the culmination of eight years and it’s exciting to see it come to fruition,” Bryan said. “I’m so thankful to God that my wife and I can be in the same place and match together. It’s a huge blessing. LUCOM has really invested in our education and there’s so many professors that invested in us and we couldn’t be where we are today without them.”
Kourtney Gwin, who was one of the 13 students that matched in mid-December through Military Match, was blessed to be a part of Liberty University.
“Liberty really supports us in the Christian aspect of our education,” Kourtney said. “I know everyone is praying for me and the feedback that I got for people praying for me through that match process was incredible.”
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