Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Medical students from all over the country received their residency assignment Friday, as apart of the National Residency Match Program, “Match Day”.
A ceremony was held at SIU School of Medicine. We spoke with students Shea Lanier and Maddie Stacey, and SIU’s Dean Jerry Kruse and Assoc. Dean Christopher McDowell. Kruse explained the hardships and struggles the students went through to achieve their residency assignments.
“These students came in post COVID time,” said Kruse. “So, the two years after COVID were actually very difficult ones for health care. They’ve been through some of the things that have been caused by that. They have an incredible amount to learn, and they have to learn how to think and how to create, how to innovate, how to solve problems. That’s the major part of our teaching is giving them generalizable skills that they can take on to the next problem.”
“I think we’re really proud of our students. Because we know that they have been prepared to critically think, to be emotionally intelligent, and to really embrace what it means to be a physician,” said McDowell. “Those are the hallmarks of what we do here at SIU School of Medicine. We are committed to excellence and clinical education, and it’s borne out by where our graduates are going. There’s some very prestigious places on this list of matched schools today, and we’re very proud of that”
At the ceremony, there were cupcakes with the locations of where the students will be going to. Through cheers and happy tears, we had the chance to speak with the students.
“It’s like the biggest moment of my life, honestly,” said Stacey. “So, it’s like, it’s just awesome. It’s huge”
“I think it’s really special because our class spent the majority of the fourth year apart,” said Lanier. “So getting to share this moment, come back together and see where we’re going to be for the next however many years our life is really exciting.”
Both students are on their way to Indiana University. Shea continuing her studies in Emergency Medicine, and Maddie continues hers in OBGYN.
