After months of interviewing, traveling across the country and praying, Match Day 2015 had a perfect ending for UTMB medical students Tiffany Jones and Lahnden Onger. The couple, who is engaged to get married in May, found out they will be serving their residencies together.
Surrounded by family and friends, they nervously opened their "match" envelopes at the same time, which would reveal their fate for the next three to six years. Both envelopes read, “Congratulations, you have matched at Case Western/Univ Hosps Med Ctr, Cleveland, Ohio.”
“This is absolutely amazing! It was our first choice. We are so blessed. We have been praying for this for months and months, ever since we went to Ohio to interview,” said Tiffany, who interviewed at 23 locations across the country. “There were a lot of places that were nice, but when we went there, we said, ‘This is our place.’ We both felt comfortable there and although our interviews were on different days, we both had the same feelings.”
Lahnden agreed. “The program there was very supportive of us and it just felt right. It’s a wonderful opportunity. The fact that we’re even doctors -- it’s a great experience and we’ll be together. We have a lot of moving to do!”
The couple met on their very first day at UTMB while attending an orientation and new student social at Moody Gardens. They quickly became friends and study buddies, and, as often said, the rest is history.
Before the Match Day ceremony on March 20, Tiffany and Lahnden knew there was a chance they might not match together. The National Resident Matching Program allows any two people in the match to link their rank lists. This process, known as Couple Match, has a high success rate for couples participating, but there is no guarantee that they will be near each other.
Tiffany said they planned to get married regardless of where each of them matched, but says she always had faith things would work out.
“And getting married right after graduation is going to be so exciting -- it’s going to be just that much more beautiful knowing that we get to live together while we continue fulfilling our passion to become doctors,” she said.
Tiffany and Lahnden were two of 220 UTMB medical students to learn on March 20 where they would continue their medical training. Students, faculty, family and friends gathered in the main auditorium of UTMB’s Levin Hall as students were called randomly to pick up their "match" envelopes. It was a celebratory atmosphere with music, signs and even a cash jackpot for one lucky student -- but the main focus of the day was on the envelopes that contained the location where each student would be participating in residency training.
"Match Day is a time-honored event in a medical student's academic life that has tremendous importance for their careers when they learn where they will begin the next phases of their lives as physicians,” said Dr. Danny O. Jacobs, executive vice president, provost and dean of UTMB’s School of Medicine. “We are very proud of our students as they continue their journeys.”
Click here for Match Day 2015 results
2015 Class Highlights:
220 total match participants
Students from 18 states, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Nigeria, Canada, Colombia, Peru and Vietnam
53% matched in Texas
17% matched at UTMB
30% matched in UT System
46% matched in primary care