Each year in March, future physicians across the globe experience Match Day, a milestone when they learn where and in what specialties they will continue their training in residencies.
VCOM students did particularly well on Match Day, as they always do. This year, VCOM-Louisiana will celebrate its first graduating class and its first Match Day. Across all four VCOM campuses, 602 VCOM students matched—an overall final match rate of 99.8%. VCOM’s match rate has been 99% or higher in each of the last four years.
This good news for VCOM’s campuses comes amid good news for the overall 2024 match, which is administrated by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). This year’s process included more than 50,000 applicants, an increase of 4.7% over last year. According to NRMP, graduating Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) across the country are increasingly likely to match; the DO match rate has increased 4.2 percentage points.
The match process typically takes several rounds to complete. VCOM students matched at a rate of 95.6% in the initial round of matching, which is considerably higher than both the Doctor of Medicine (MD) average of 93.5% and the DO average of 92.3%.
Our students’ commitment to the VCOM mission of preparing globally minded and community-focused physicians to meet the needs of rural and medically underserved populations, is evident in their matches. More than 47% of VCOM students will attend residency in a rural area, 55% will complete a residency in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and more than 47% will head to a medically underserved area (MUA).
Furthermore, more than 72% of VCOM students will head to residencies in VCOM’s target region—Appalachian and Delta states. Over the last four years, the top five states for VCOM graduates are Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and that is true this year as well. In addition, 41 VCOM students were accepted into a military residency, continuing VCOM’s commitment to providing care for the United States armed forces.
Highlights from Each VCOM Campus
VCOM-Louisiana, graduating its inaugural class, had a match rate of 100%. The top three states for VCOM-Louisiana students are Louisiana, Texas and Florida. Students who matched into primary care specialties account for 60% of the class, helping to fulfill VCOM’s mission. The remaining 40% matched into specialty fields, many in other areas of need, such as psychiatry, surgery, emergency medicine and orthopedics.
VCOM-Carolinas had a match rate of 100%, with 67% matching into primary care specialties. The top three states are South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida. Seventy percent of VCOM-Carolinas students will be going to a residency in an Appalachian state.
VCOM-Auburn had a final match rate of 99.3%, with approximately 60% matching into primary care specialties. The top states are Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
VCOM-Virginia had a match rate of 100%, with 66.5% matching into a primary care residency. Top states are Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.