Today [Friday] is a big day for fourth-year medical students in Spokane and around the country. It’s the day when they learn where they will begin their careers as medical doctors.
It’s also a milestone day for the WSU College of Medicine. Its first class of students matched today.“It has been a day that has been circled on my calendar for almost six years. To see our students achieve such amazing results, we couldn’t be more proud," said Dr. John Tomkowiak, the college's founding dean.
Tomkowiak says 70% of the 60-member class will spend the next three-to-seven years with residency programs on the West Coast, 40% in Washington. He says a little more half of the class chose specialties related to primary care.
WSU will hold an online ceremony for its matched students tonight at 6.
University of Washington medical students also matched on Friday. Some of them did their academic career training in Spokane.
Another first for WSU: its first university-sponsored medical residency program, in Everett, matched with 16 students. Twelve students will spend three years practicing primary care and four will do a transitional year before matching with another residency program.