UW medical students make a Match with residency programs

Match Day is always a family affair, but the expression this year took on new meaning for two UW Medicine families. Jennie Wild , daughter of UW Medical Center’s Chief Nursing Officer Lorie Wild, and Dan Benedetti, son of UW professor of obstetrics and gynecology Tom Benedetti, took part in the day’s events.

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Match Day is when approximately 16,000 graduating medical students across the country learn where they will serve as residents via the National Resident Matching Program.

Nearly 190 University of Washington (UW) medical students went through this year’s Match in events held in Seattle, Boise, Anchorage and Spokane. Students are matched with residency programs around the nation. Some students will be matched with UW-affiliated programs in Seattle or across the region.

Emily Glynn, specializing in pathology, said prior to the event that she hoped to stay in Seattle. “But I’m happy with the first five places I ranked,” she said. Glynn, like many medical students and others in attendance, was sporting a green top since Match Day coincided this year with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Jennie Wild, matching in pediatrics, said she felt excited, mostly. “It’s the culmination,” she said. “I’ve been waiting four years for this Match day to get here,” Wild said, with a broad smile. She said that she hoped to match with the UW program based at Seattle Children’s.

“Excited” was the adjective used most often by medical students, spouses and proud parents. “I’m a nervous wreck,” said Emily Loeb, wife of Lee Hammons, who was waiting to hear about a Match in ob-gyn. “It’s really exciting. But we also don’t know if we will need to put our house on the market tomorrow,” she added, with a smile. Their children—Hannah, 4 and one-half, and Sam, 23 months—also attended Match Day. “No matter what we find out, it’s going to be exciting,” said Loeb.

Susan Ahearn from Seattle was picking up the envelope for daughter Meghan, who was out of town on Thursday. The younger Ahearn was matching in emergency medicine. “This is very exciting,” said Ahearn. “It’s been a long haul for all of us.”

Benedetti and Wild both landed a Match with the UW residency program at Seattle Children’s. Hammons got his first choice at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Glynn matched with the UW, and she burst into what she said were “happy” tears upon opening her envelope. “I’m more emotional than what I expected,” she said.

“We’ve got to sell the house,” said Loeb, in a nod to the cross-country move she, Hammons and the kids will soon make. “Now, it’s going to be a lot of work.”