About 40% of graduates are entering primary care professions.
AUSTIN, Texas — Members of the 2021 graduating class of Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin learned today that all of them “matched” and will join residency programs following graduation this May. Among the 47 fourth-year students set to graduate, 19 (about 40%) will enter primary care fields including internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology.
The matches were revealed this morning, when graduating medical students across the country opened emails revealing where they would spend the next stage of their medical careers.
While Dell Med students are headed for academic medical centers across the country, 32% will stay in Texas. Eight of them will remain in Travis County, where they will continue to learn from Dell Med faculty as part of residency programs jointly led with its academic medical partner, Ascension Seton.
Graduating during a global pandemic has added special meaning to the medical school experience for many.
“It’s bittersweet,” said Dekoiya Burton, who earned both M.D. and MBA degrees during his four years as a student. “This pandemic has been so hard for medical education and for health care providers, but graduating is such a celebratory and exciting time. Although there’s a ton of uncertainty and grief, our dreams of becoming physicians are coming true,” said Burton, who learned today that he will embark on a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency at University of Cincinnati Medical Center – Ohio.
Stepping Up to Fill a Growing Gap in the Medical Profession
The concentration of graduating students planning to specialize in primary care is expected to help address the shortage of primary care physicians in the U.S., which the Association of American Medical Colleges predicts will grow to between 21,100 and 55,200 by 2032.
Additionally, students matching to residencies in the Austin area means more care providers across the community. In 2012, 218 medical residents were providing care in Travis County community clinics and hospitals. That number has since grown to 320 residents in 2020.
“Local residency matches among Dell Med students means that Travis County will continue to benefit from the investment in the community it made when voting to create this medical school way back in 2012,” said Sue Cox, M.D., executive vice dean of academics and chair of the Department of Medical Education at Dell Med.
How Match Day Works
A rite of passage for most fourth-year medical students, the Main Residency Match system of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) connects more than 44,000 applicants and 34,000 training positions every year.
Based on a computerized mathematical algorithm, the system considers preferences of both applicants and program directors to produce the best possible outcome for filling training positions available at U.S. teaching hospitals, according to the NRMP. All participants follow the same rules and adhere to the same deadlines. Applicants and programs get to consider all options before making decisions. Not everyone matches, but for those who do, match results are binding.
Who’s Coming to Dell Med Next Year?
As Dell Med sends its graduating students to medical institutions across the country, it will also welcome new physicians pursuing medical residencies.
“We are pleased we retained several of our own students, and excited to welcome a diverse group of new colleagues from outstanding schools across the nation including Yale, UT Southwestern, Baylor, Dartmouth, University of North Carolina, and many other prestigious institutions,” said Jonathan MacClements, M.D., associate dean of graduate medical education at Dell Med. “We are thrilled that they will be calling Austin their new home.”
In 2020, Dell Med hit two major milestones, earning full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and graduating its first class. Its next celebration is set for May 20, when the fourth-year students who matched today will graduate.