The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education Achieves 100% Match for Residency Programs The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education welcomed 51 new resident physicians into its regional residency programs after achieving a 100% match on National Match Day for aspiring doctors. The National Resident Matching Program’s Match Day is held annually on the third Friday of March. Medical students’ nation- and worldwide simultaneously learn at which U.S. residency program they will train for the next three to seven years. It is one of the most important and competitive processes in the medical school experience. The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education looks forward to Match Day each year as it learns which medical school graduates will continue their training in its Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited, comprehensive, and community-focused residency programs in Northeast Pennsylvania. The Wright Center is one of the largest Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Consortiums in the country, with more than 245 physicians in training. The Wright Center matched residents in the following regional programs: Family Medicine Residency (13); Internal Medicine Residency (33); and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency (5). Resident physicians will begin the first year of their residencies on July 1 in Scranton. The incoming first-year residents hail from 13 countries: Bahrain (1); Canada (6); China (1); India (9); Nepal (3); Pakistan (12); Philippines (2); Saint Lucia (1); Saudi Arabia (1); Serbia (1); Uganda (1); United Kingdom (1); and the United States (12). The residency programs received 5,072 applications and interviewed 516 candidates, or about 10.17% of the applicants. The National Resident Matching Program makes residency matches, using a mathematical algorithm to pair graduating medical students with open training positions at teaching health centers, educational consortia, hospitals, and other institutions across the U.S. The model considers the top choices of both students and residency programs. “Match Day is one of the most exciting days of the academic year and a celebration to welcome our new residents,” said Jumee Barooah, M.D., designated institutional official and senior vice president of education at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education. “For the residents, the day represents the culmination of years of hard work and perseverance that began at an early age. For The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, it marks another milestone in meeting our mission to improve the health and welfare of our communities through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired, competent workforce that is privileged to serve.” The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education was established in 1976 as the Scranton-Temple Residency Program, a community-based internal medicine residency. Today, The Wright Center is one of the nation’s largest HRSA-funded Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortiums. Together with consortium stakeholders, The Wright Center trains residents and fellows in a community-based, community-needs-responsive workforce development model to advance their shared mission to provide whole-person primary health services regardless of their insurance status, ZIP code, or ability to pay. The Wright Center offers ACGME accredited residencies in three disciplines – family medicine, internal medicine, and physical medicine & rehabilitation – as well as fellowships in cardiovascular disease, gastroenterology, and geriatrics. For information about The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-866-3017.
