Class of 2022 prepares for Match Day
Posted on February 18, 2022 by Carol McPhail
As he looks to Match Day, fourth-year medical student Zack Aggen is excited to reach the final stage of his undergraduate medical training.
鈥淚鈥檓 full of nervous excitement in anticipation of what the envelope holds,鈥� said Aggen, who is class president. 鈥淚 hope to match into emergency medicine.鈥�
He and other members of the Class of 2022 at the 91短视频 College of Medicine are looking forward to Friday, March 18, when they will convene for Match Day at the Mobile Convention Center to find out where they will train as resident physicians. This year鈥檚 event will be the largest Match Day for 91短视频 since 2019, before the COVID pandemic forced social distancing requirements.
鈥淲e are thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the large in-person gatherings so that these students who have worked so diligently throughout the pandemic can be surrounded by those who have loved, nurtured and supported them,鈥� said Kelly Roveda, M.D., associate dean for student affairs at the 91短视频 College of Medicine.
鈥淭he medical school experience for the Class of 2022 has been like no other in the history of the College of Medicine. The Match Day event will represent some semblance of a return to normality for this class. They are each deserving of this grand celebration, and we are looking forward to being a part of it,鈥� Roveda said.
While Aggen鈥檚 adopted mother and her sister will cheer him on at Match Day, his wife, Ashlen Aggen, M.D., a family medicine physician and graduate of the Class of 2015, will be watching from home with the couple鈥檚 four children. 鈥淪ince we will have a two-week-old on Match Day, we decided it would be safest for the kids to stay home with my wife given the uncertainty surrounding COVID,鈥� he said.
The pandemic hasn鈥檛 dampened his desire to work as an emergency medicine physician, he said. 鈥淣ationwide, emergency rooms bore the brunt of the pandemic, but I鈥檓 still very excited to have the opportunity to treat patients, regardless of their ailment.鈥�
As is the tradition, students will take turns announcing their residency placements and pinning the geographical locations on a map on stage. A group photo is planned prior to the event, and students will be photographed individually as they pin the map.
Among other details of the event:
- Students should check in at 9:15 a.m. at tables near the entrance to the Grand Ballroom.
- The cost is $5 to park in the Convention Center parking garage.
- At check-in, students will pick up packets, which will contain face masks, and pose for a group photo at the escalators.
- During the photo shoot, guests can proceed to the Grand Ballroom.
- The event begins promptly at 10:30 a.m.
- Students will be photographed with 鈥淚 matched鈥� signs, also included in the packet.
- The event will be livestreamed. More details will be announced closer to the date.