March 20, 2020—(BRONX, NY)—Amid a sobering global pandemic with medical professionals performing heroic work around the world, fourth-year medical students of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a part of Montefiore, learned today by email where they will begin their residencies at hospitals across the nation.

Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines recommending social distancing and the avoidance of large group events, Einstein leaders cancelled the traditional Match Day celebration, where the entire class receives their results in envelopes and opens them together as a group in the medical school’s Lubin Dining Hall.

Instead, nervous students waited by their computers, often with only close family members nearby, for the noon notification from the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) to discover where they will begin residencies in July. Many recorded the exciting moment and quickly shared their happy news on social media platforms, recognizing the gravity of their upcoming medical education transition.

In these uncertain times, the need to train compassionate and innovate physicians is more important than ever.

Allison Ludwig, M.D.

“In these uncertain times, the need to train compassionate and innovate physicians is more important than ever,” said Allison Ludwig, M.D., associate professor of medicine and associate dean of student affairs. “We have never felt more confident in the abilities of this group of rising physicians.”

This year, 179 students, or 97% of the class, matched to a residency. Thirty-three students matched to positions in the Montefiore Health System and more than 39 matched to a hospital affiliated with Einstein. The top residency match for the class of 2020 was internal medicine, with 38 students going into the field. Rounding out the top specialties are: pediatrics (23), emergency medicine (17), obstetrics/gynecology (11), anesthesiology (9), diagnostic-radiology (9), and general surgery (8).

The NRMP conducts the match using a computerized mathematical algorithm to align the preferences of applicants with the preferences of U.S. residency programs seeking new trainees.

Residency training for most graduates will begin about a month after Einstein’s graduation on May 26.