Brad and Erica Sutton were among the 100-plus School of Medicine seniors who learned on Thursday where they will be heading for their residencies. PHOTO BY KEITH WELLER

Hugs, high-fives, cheers and kisses filled the Turner Concourse on Thursday, March 18, when School of Medicine seniors found out which hospital residency programs they will enter after graduation in May.

Some 110 Johns Hopkins students are among more than 14,000 U.S. medical students who nervously awaited Match Day. Although participants in the National Resident Matching Program can learn via the Web if they have successfully matched to a program, Hopkins continues with its traditional group ritual in which students simultaneously open white envelopes with news of their matches.

"Match Day is one of the most important days in a medical student's life," said H. Franklin Herlong, associate dean for students and associate professor of medicine. "Residency is the time when they develop both professionally and personally."

Prior to Match Day, students interviewed with hospitals and then provided a rank order list of top choices. Hospitals submit a similar list indicating openings, preferred students and specialty or generalist preferences. Each applicant is matched via computer to the hospital residency program highest on the applicant's list that has offered the applicant a position. This year, Hopkins had five couples looking for a close match.

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