On Match Day, March 16, the Townsend Hotel was packed with anxious M4 students, each holding an envelope containing the name of the hospital where he or she would soon become a resident.

Among the students anxiously awaiting the results was Eboni Reed, a Detroit native who received her undergraduate degree in biological sciences from Wayne State University. As she stood among her classmates, she remembered the day of their White Coat Ceremony and realized that she would soon turn in that short white coat.

“They passed out the envelopes, and my hands started shaking,” she recalled. “We started counting down, I walked over to my mom and I thought, ‘you know what, my mom has been there this entire journey with me. I’m going to let my mom open it.’”

When her mother informed her that she would be a resident in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Memorial Healthcare System in Florida, she burst into happy tears. “I was so excited, not only because I matched, but because I matched at a program where I know it’s going to be a great four years,” she said.

Reed’s program directors called her later in the day to welcome her to the team. “It was so relieving to know that they’re just as excited to have us as we are to go there,” she said.

Reed’s peers matched at institutions across the country, too, including Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education, UCLA and Vanderbilt. Thirty-six students will remain in Michigan in residency specialties ranging from radiology-diagnostic to neurology and orthopaedic surgery. All agree that they are excited to begin this new chapter.

Specifically, Oltion Mesi, a Dearborn, Mich. native, looks forward to starting his residency in internal medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “The Cleveland Clinic welcomes some of the most medically complex patients in the world,” he says. “The opportunity to be at a facility that will allow me to learn from medical conditions that most have only read about is certainly exciting to me.”

Ashley Aller, who grew up in Washington State and kicked off her undergraduate studies in Chicago before transferring to Oakland University to complete her B.S., will remain in the Midwest for her residency. The University of Chicago Medical Center is welcoming her as a resident in internal medicine.

Carrying on the OUWB values

Four years ago, Reed went into her medical school interviews with the impression that the best school to go to was the one with the biggest name and the most prestigious research reputation. However, as she began interviewing, she realized the importance of the ‘feel’ of the school.

“The curriculum was very similar at most places, but the feel was entirely different,” she said.

“I saw the way everyone at OUWB treated each other, and I knew this was a place I wanted to be.”

As she takes her talents Memorial Healthcare System, Reed hopes to bring with her a piece of the OUWB culture – specifically, the teamwork. As there are only four residents with whom she will be working, she believes that: “The better we work together, the more successful we will be in the program.”

Fellow graduates Aller and Mesi also plan to carry OUWB values with them to their residencies.

 “After both my undergraduate and medical school education, the most important thing I value is community, and working as a community to accomplish something great,” Aller says. “In order to do this, one must appreciate collaboration of a group as well as appreciating the individuality of each person in the group.”

Mesi adds: “OUWB has taught me that it’s not enough to be a competent physician; one must strive for excellence and get there with compassion. We’re given the immense privilege of caring for individuals during their most vulnerable moments in life, and we owe it to ourselves to treat them with dignity and respect.”

Match Day is a national event that occurs annually on the third Friday in March when graduating medical students find out where they will be fulfilling their residency requirements. This year, 43 students matched to residencies in primary care [family medicine (14), pediatrics (9), internal medicine (15) and OB/GYN (5)] and 14 matched at Beaumont, OUWB’s affiliate institution.

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To find out where all of our students matched, click here.

To view a map of match locations, click here.

To view photos from the Match Day ceremony, visit OUWB's Facebook page.