Many of the students in PCOM South Georgia’s first graduating class of doctors of osteopathic medicine celebrated Match Day with their classmates on campus March 17. All of the students in the class matched with residency programs.

PCOM South Georgia welcomed its first class of students in the fall of 2019 with a simple mission of educating students to become doctors of osteopathic medicine in underserved, rural areas. When those students graduate in May, 100 percent of them will move on to residency programs where they perfect their skills within their chosen specialties.

“I am very pleased that every student seeking a residency position after graduation has been successful,” said H. William Craver III DO, Dean and Chief Academic Officer of PCOM South Georgia. “I think this represents the outstanding character of our students, faculty and clinical partners, especially for such success in just the first year of DO graduates.” 

PCOM South Georgia held its first Match Day celebration on campus on March 17, when students who participated in the National Resident Matching Program, find out where they will complete their residencies, which are usually three to five years. Before Match Day, medical students planning to graduate before July 1, register for the NRMP placement system’s funded residency positions. Applicants interview with programs and then rank their top choices. NRMP uses an algorithm to match applicants and programs for the best possible match. Participants receive notification on Match Day, according to the NRMP website.

Of PCOM South Georgia’s inaugural class, 25 percent matched in residency programs within the state. Twelve percent of the class will remain in South Georgia to complete residency programs in Moultrie and Thomasville.

“I feel like staying local in southwest Georgia is a good way to give back to the community that has helped me out these past four years,” said Woody Gramling, DO ’23, who matched with Georgia South Psychiatry Residency Program at Colquitt Regional Medical Center in Moultrie.

Sixty-nine percent of PCOM South Georgia students matched to primary care specialties and core specialties. According to the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce, these include family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, emergency medicine and general surgery. Other specialties students chose include anesthesiology, pathology, orthopedic surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology and radiology. 

Some students whose careers began at PCOM South Georgia will now further their studies with residencies at well-known medical institutions, including Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland, Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network in Pennsylvania and Shands Hospital in Florida.

The students will officially graduate during a commencement ceremony on May 25. They will report to their residency positions in early July. 

“I think a lot of the anxieties are now the unknown of the next step,” Class Chair Matthew Powell, DO ’23, said at the Match Day celebration. “That's going to be a great one. I’m just really proud of everybody for all the hard work that we've done so far. I think we're all really excited for the hard work that we have ahead of us.”

To read more about PCOM’s Match Day and view the full list of residency matches, visit www.pcom.edu/student-life/student-affairs/match-lists/match-list-2023.html.