Match Day 2021
See the complete list of our matched students. Visit the National Resident Matching Program website to learn more about the matching process.
MEDICAL SCHOOL MATCHMAKING
Match Day is one of the most important dates for medical students, signifying the end of medical school and the transition to full-time clinical training. On March 19, 2021, fourth-year medical students at the University of Minnesota and nationwide learned where they were placed for their residencies. We spoke with three students who reflected on their medical school experience and shared their hopes for the future.
Shelbie Shelder
Growing up, Shelbie Shelder wasn’t always convinced that she could be a doctor someday.Â
“I’m a first-generation college student,” said the fourth-year University of Minnesota Medical School student. “I didn’t think that I could be a doctor, and I had really bad imposter syndrome in college.”
Shelder is a member of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Michigan and the Makwa (bear) clan. She shared that, as a child, she experienced the effects of the inequalities in the healthcare system first-hand. It wasn’t until her senior year of college that a mentor encouraged her to pursue medicine.
Michael “Gus” McCarthy
Michael “Gus” McCarthy reflects on his time at the University of Minnesota Medical School as he celebrates Match Day.
On the first day of Michael “Gus” McCarthy’s rotation at the Walter Reed Medical Center last year, he didn’t know that it was also former President Donald Trump’s first day in that hospital recovering from COVID-19.
“I didn’t know anything about this base or where to go, and so literally the president was in there – everyone was trying to scramble to figure out where to go or how they can even get me on base,” he recalled.
Asma Adam
Everyone who knows Asma Adam knows about her curiosity for science and her endearment for her community. But, it wasn’t always obvious to Adam that medicine was the best way for her to combine those passions.
“My journey into medicine was a progressive journey,” she said. “As I explored all of my interests, I gravitated towards the sciences and especially the pathophysiology of the human body. Later, I learned about the social determinants of health and understanding that people’s health outcomes are really affected by the society they grow up in and the access to care that they have. I am interested in health equity as it relates to health policy, clinical practice and medical education.”
Rewatch the 2021 Match Day Ceremony
A MESSAGE FROM DEAN JAKUB TOLAR, MD, PHD
As you see in the world around you, being a physician is one of the most rewarding, challenging, noble professions you could have chosen. Remember today that regardless if you receive the match you want, don’t receive the one you want, or don’t match at all, you have a valuable role to play in our world going forward. Joy or disappointment will pass, but your commitment to helping others and the gifts that you bring to your life will be with you forever.