Invitation to Cover: Penn Match Day Fever – Future Physicians Prepare for Jobs Lottery

Countdown to Match Day as Medical Students Await Residency Matches

PHILADELPHIA – It all comes down to this – Match Day. After a challenging four or more years in medical school, classmates, spouses, children, and friends will gather to watch as 145 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine medical students (80 women and 65 men) take the next step in their medical journey into residency. Anxiously waiting in their seats, each student will be called individually and handed an envelope with their match.

Match Day is the culmination of a process that began in the fall through the National Residency Matching Program, which helps pair graduating medical students with the hospital or medical center of their choice. This year, about 45 percent of the Penn Medicine students are pursuing careers in primary care areas, including medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, and other areas where demand is high nationally, but financial incentives are lacking.

WHERE:	University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Dunlop Auditorium - Stemmler Hall 3450 Hamilton Walk Philadelphia, PA 19104 Across the courtyard from the Rhoads Pavilion at HUP
WHEN:	March 18, 2010 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
WHO:	Introduction by Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, Executive Vice President for the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Dean of the School of Medicine

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Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.