Baptist Health Celebrates Match Day

Proud to welcome and train the next generation of physicians

Medical students across the country have been anxiously awaiting one of the most significant moments in their careers: Match Day. Years of grueling classes and labs, countless late-night study sessions, and months of high-stakes interviews have led to the day where dreams meet futures — Friday, March 21.

With trepidation and fanfare, medical students open the sealed envelopes that will reveal just where their career journey will take them next. After completing medical school and earning an M.D. or D.O. degree, physicians enter a residency program to gain in-depth knowledge and clinical experience. Match Day informs them where they will be training in their specialty. Residency can last from 3-7 years.

(Watch now: More than 100 new medical school graduates, including those from our academic partners, will begin their residency training at our hospitals and institutes this July. See the anticipation and excitement as they find out on Match Day where their career journey takes them next. Video by Emilio Marrero and Baptist Health Staff News Team.)

More than 100 new medical school graduates, including those from our academic partners — Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine — will begin their residency training at our hospitals and institutes this July. This includes 60 residents in our new FIU/Baptist Health residency programs in internal medicine, general surgery, neurology and diagnostic radiology, as well as our existing family medicine program. Trainees in advanced specialization fellowship programs in orthopedic surgery, sports medicine and interventional radiology will also be matched later this year.

“We are thrilled to welcome such an impressive group of residents to our programs,” said Samer Fahmy, M.D., Baptist Health vice president and chief medical executive. “Our resident doctors will be training and learning from our esteemed physicians and serving patients throughout South Florida. We are proud to help prepare the physicians who will be the future of medicine.”

In addition to students who matched into our affiliated medical residencies, Baptist Health also matched more than 40 new trainees into our existing graduate education programs in pharmacy and podiatry.

Preparing for the Healthcare of Tomorrow

As our nation grapples with a physician shortage that is expected to reach 86,000 by the next decade (Association of American Medical Colleges), Baptist Health’s partnership with Florida International University is poised to help address the issue. Together with FIU, graduate medical education at Baptist Health will expand in the next five years to include 20 new programs that will train 300 residents and fellows each year.

“It is certainly an exciting time for academic medicine,” said Sudhagar Thangarasu, M.D., designated institutional official and associate dean for graduate medical education, FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. “Our goal is to attract the best and the brightest and with all that our partnership has to offer, many will stay in South Florida after their training and work in our community for decades to come.”