“One of the USA College of Medicine’s Match Day traditions is to drop $5 into a doctor’s bag as you go on stage to announce where you matched, and the last person to go up takes home the money,” said Kelsea Wright, a member of the Class of 2020. “This year, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and our Match Day ceremony being cancelled, we have decided to donate our ‘match money’ to Feeding the Gulf Coast, and we are asking our friends, family and faculty to match our match and donate $5.”
The Match Day ceremony for the Class of 2020 was set for today, March 20, at Christ United Methodist Church, but was cancelled along with other large gatherings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical students will still participate in the National Resident Matching Program, but will receive their envelopes individually to discover in which residency program they will train for the next few years.
Wright said that the #MatchOurMatch campaign, an idea borrowed from a medical school in another state, is giving her and her classmates something to do now that they have finished their clinical training.
“I have talked to several of my classmates, and we all agree that we feel almost purposeless, which is a foreign concept for us, as we have always had something concrete to work toward for the last four-plus years,” she said. “It makes my heart happy to see my class coming together like this, and it makes me so thankful to be part of the Class of 2020.”
Wright said that a $5 donation would provide 25 meals to those in need.
“We in the College of Medicine are proud of the manner in which our soon-to-be graduates are working within our community to assist in any way possible," said Kelly Roveda, M.D., associate dean of student affairs. “Our students recognize that as future healthcare providers, they will be looked to as leaders in the communities in which they will practice.”
Visit https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/MatchOurMatch to donate.
