Some students in the know as Match Day nears

Unlike many of her fellow UNMC medical students, Katie Schultis, president of the UNMC Student Senate, is not at all nervous as Match Day approaches.

The reason? She matched a month ago.

Because of the relative scarcity of students matching in her specialty, medical student and UNMC Student Regent Katie Schultis learned where she matched in February.

Each year, a small number of students match before the official Match Day – this year, UNMC’s event will be held at 10:45 a.m. on March 15 at the Scott Conference Center on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus. In Schultis’ case, it was because her residency specialty – urology – is one of two specialties that have early matches (the other being ophthalmology). Others may match early because of a military commitment, or as part of the Advanced Family Medicine and Primary Care training tracks.

But Schultis – who will do her residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota – is excited for the March 15 event nevertheless.

“When I matched on Feb. 1, I received an email with a link that took me to a web page that said, ‘Congrats, you match to the following program,’” she said. Schultis celebrated with friends and family, but the opportunity to join with her classmates in sharing her match is one she doesn’t want to miss.

“I’m still very much a part of that, as well as my other class members who’ve matched early. I have picked my walkup song, my family will still be there. It still will be an emotional day, because we get to see where our friends end up and we get to celebrate each other, which is really fun.”

One aspect of the day she won’t miss, she said, is the nerves that mount heading into the big reveal.

“I know what’s happening, so I just have all the excitement — going up on stage to announce to my friends and my family where I’m going and learning where all of my friends are going to end up as well. So for me, it’s pure excitement, pure joy that I’ll experience on that day. I still have the full experience – but just with a little bit less of the anxiety that comes with it.

“As much as I don’t like to cry, I’m looking forward to seeing everybody with joyful tears in their eyes,” she said. “This is an important day, and I am excited to share it with the class.”

Live streaming will be available for the event.

The Match Day team

Wendy Grant, MD, always is nervous as Match Day approaches.

"We all want our students to get the matches they want and to be happy as they start on this exciting next step in their medical journey," she said.

Unlike the students, however, Dr. Grant, associate dean for student affairs for the UNMC College of Medicine – has had to fight her pre-event jitters for many years. And she will do so, she hopes, for many years to come.

Dr. Grant and her team – including Alan Erickson, MD, Cody Phillips, Lindsay Meyer, Crystal Bearfield and Rachel Samson – are in charge of making one of the most important days in any doctor’s life go off without a hitch. They work for months ahead to provide a streamlined, memorable and mistake-free experience for the 140 UNMC medical students who will discover on Match Day where they will spend their residencies as they embark on the next step of their journey.

And Dr. Grant loves it.

“It’s a great day,” she said, speaking by phone three weeks ahead of the event. “And we have a great team. Every year, we work hard to make this day as memorable and exciting for the students as we can. Match Day is a rite of passage for young medical professionals, and we feel privileged to be a part of this celebration.”