UAB Synopsis, Vol. 24, No. 13, April 11, 2005
The 2005 graduating class of the School of Medicine at UAB will send more than half its graduates into one of the primary care specialties, according to numbers released on Match Day, March 17. Coordinated by the National Resident Matching Program, graduating seniors at medical schools across America found out then where they will be doing their residency training and in what field. This year, more than 14,700 U.S. medical school seniors participated in Match Day, the highest total in 20 years.
Record number of nationwide applicants
A total of 25,300 graduates of U.S. medical schools, foreign schools, and osteopathic schools participated in this year's Match Day. As in previous years, U.S. medical school seniors enjoyed a higher success rate than other applicants; nearly 94% matched and more than 86% of those students were assigned to one of their top three choices.
Fifty-three percent of the 156 UAB graduates will conduct their residency training in one of the primary care fields: internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics, or obstetrics/gynecology. Graduates will serve residencies in 65 hospitals or medical centers in 28 states and the District of Columbia. "There is a great need for more primary care physicians in this country, particularly in the rural South and inner cities," Kathleen Nelson, MD, medical school senior associate dean for students, says.
Twenty-one percent of UAB's graduates will serve residencies in general surgery or a surgical subspecialty, with 25% serving in other specialties.
Seventy-two percent of the 2005 graduates will complete residency training in the Southeast, down slightly from 76% last year; of these, 46% will remain in Alabama, up from 42% a year ago.
"Young physicians tend to establish permanent practices in the same state or region where they received postgraduate training," Dr. Nelson adds. "More residents remaining in-state translates into better health care and better access to health care for all Alabamians."