RFU Delivers Stellar Match Rates for Residencies in Medicine, Podiatric Medicine, Pharmacy and Clinical Psychology

Fourth-year medical and podiatric medical students celebrated Match Day on March 17. The annual rite of passage — in which students across the U.S. discover where they will spend the next few years in residency training — is the culmination of four years of intense study and clinical experiences.

Chicago Medical School (CMS) and Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine extended their excellent records of residency placement. CMS achieved a 99.4% match rate. Scholl College reached a 100% match for the sixth consecutive year.

Members of the Class of 2023 were in the middle of their first academic year when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Students had to quickly acclimate to remote learning and assessment, along with scheduling changes/modifications to the curriculum.

“Our students stand on the brink of fulfilling their calling — a lifelong commitment to caring for others,” said CMS Dean Archana Chatterjee, MD, PhD. “Similar to medical students across the country, they were confronted with major adjustments demanded by COVID safety protocols, including hybrid learning, online classes, disruptions to clinical rotations and virtual residency interviews.”

Jeanette Morrison, MD, FACP, CMS Executive Vice Dean and Vice Dean for Medical Education, asked students to consider both their four years of accomplishment at CMS and the new chapter awaiting them.

“You have all grown and changed, adapted and persevered, and developed empathy, compassion and resilience beyond what is typical for a medical student,” Dr. Morrison said. “You have taken those qualities and incorporated them into who you will be as physicians. We have seen these qualities in all of you, and so have close to 200 residency program directors from all over the country.”

Scholl College Dean Stephanie Wu, DPM, MSc, FACFAS, said that soon-to-be podiatric physicians will enter residency training at one of the most challenging times in health care.

“Our 100% match rate is evidence that these dedicated students are up for the challenge to improve the lives of the people and the populations they serve,” she said. “It speaks to their unwavering focus on their education and how they adapted seamlessly to all the pandemic-related adjustments to their learning, assessments and course schedules, including sacrificing their spring break in February of 2021 for their board exam reviews.”

College of Pharmacy Top in State

RFU’s College of Pharmacy (COP) achieved the highest match rate among the six pharmacy schools and colleges in Illinois. Eighty-six percent of COP graduates who chose to participate in the match secured a residency. COP also stands well above the 2023 nationwide pharmacy residency match rate of 75%.

The annual residency match in pharmacy serves as a reminder that achieving a PharmD allows individuals to forge their own paths upon graduation and beyond. While a significant number of graduates may choose to pursue residency training or fellowships training in the pharmaceutical industry, neither are requirements for licensure and practice.

“Residency positions, like all postgraduate training opportunities in pharmacy, are limited in number across the country and are very competitive,” said COP Interim Dean Scott Hanes, PharmD. “While all pharmacy graduates are prepared to contribute to patient health outcomes, postgraduate training provides an accelerated path towards more advanced clinical practice and further specialized training opportunities.”

Clinical Psychology 100%

The Clinical Psychology PhD program in the College of Health Professions celebrated its eighth consecutive 100% match rate for internship placements, with students matching to American Psychological Association-accredited programs across the country, all in Phase I of the match. The national match rate for PhD clinical psychology doctoral programs for Phase I is 87%.

“Our 100% match rate at APA-approved internship sites is a testament to the hard work of our students, as well as to the efforts of our department faculty and our outstanding clinical training partners within the Chicagoland area,” said College of Health Professions Dean Lisa Dutton, PT, PhD.

“Following internship completion, our graduates will complete fellowships and then secure licensure as clinical psychologists, where they will be well-positioned to provide high quality and critically needed mental health services in their areas of specialty.”

CMS students matched into top residencies at university health systems, medical centers and hospitals across the country, including University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha; Boston University Medical Center, Boston; Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois; Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles; McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, Chicago; John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Chicago; Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston; New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, New York City; University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange; UK HealthCare, Lexington, Kentucky; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Montefiore Medical Center, New York City; Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Dartmouth, New Hampshire; Cleveland Clinic Foundation; and Emory University Hospital, Atlanta.

Scholl College students will complete medical and surgical training at programs, including HCA Houston Healthcare; Geisinger Community Medical Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania; Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Oakland; Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis; DVA-Miami VA Healthcare System; Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles; Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood; Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago; MedStar Health-Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C., and the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center.