Couple hopes to match on Match Day
When Friday, March 20 rolls around University of Texas Medical Branch medical students Tiffany Jones and Lahnden Onger will have more than their upcoming wedding plans on their minds.
That’s because March 20 is National Match Day and the couple will find out if they will be spending the beginning of their married lives together, or serving residencies in different locations. The National Resident Matching Program allows any two people in the match to link their rank lists. This process, known as Couple Match has a high success rate for couples participating, but there is no guarantee they will be near each other.
The couple met on their very first day at UTMB while attending an orientation and new student social at Moody Gardens. They quickly became friends and study buddies, and is often said, the rest is history.
“We have high hopes that we will be placed near each other,” said Tiffany. “Regardless we will get married. If we do not match near each other we are confident we can work this out even though it is not something you want to deal with in your first year of marriage.”
The couple plans to wed on graduation weekend in late May.
While the couple prepares for Match Day and their wedding, 218 of their classmates also will learn on March 20 where they will continue their medical training.
UTMB strives to make this a special day for all of the students with a celebratory atmosphere. At 11 a.m., students, faculty, family and friends gather in the main auditorium of UTMB’s Levin Hall, at 11th and Market streets. There’s even a cash jackpot for one lucky student. As students are called randomly to pick up their ‘match’ envelopes they each toss a dollar into a bowl. The last student called is the lucky winner of the jackpot.
However, when all is said and done, the main focus of the day is the envelopes that contain information on the location where each student will be participating in residency training.
Match Day is a time honored event in a medical students academic life that has tremendous importance for their careers when they learn where they will begin the next phases of their lives as physicians,” said Dr. Danny O. Jacobs, executive vice president, provost and dean of the UTMB’s school of Medicine. “We are very proud of our students as they continue their journeys.”
2015 Class Highlights:
220 total match participants
Two are from Galveston County
39 from Harris County
Students from 18 states, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Nigeria, Canada, Colombia, Peru and Vietnam
