The Des Moines University osteopathic medicine Class of 2024 hit it out of the ballpark in the main residency match for medical school seniors, achieving a 100% match rate announced March 15.
This is the third consecutive year DMU’s osteopathic medical graduates have achieved a 100% placement rate. COM’s five-year average placement rate is 99.3%.
“Congratulations on the next step in your medical journey,” Dave Kapaska, D.O.’86, M.B.A., interim dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, said during an online celebration of Match Day. “You all have a place, and every one of those places is prepared to train you.”
According to the National Resident Matching Program®, a total of 50,413 applicants registered in the 2024 main residency match, an all-time high and increase of 2,257 or 4.7% over last year. The rise in applicants was driven largely by an increase of 1,986 non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates and 623 osteopathic seniors over last year.
U.S. D.O. seniors achieved a 92.3% match rate, an all-time high and an increase of 0.7 percentage points over last year.
“I don’t have to tell you the singular importance of Match Day,” said Paul Morris, D.O.’78, FACOFP, founder of and physician at Carlstadt Family Practice in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and a member of the DMU Alumni Board. “The choice you have made will have a great impact on your career and also on the community you’re going to serve…You may wonder if you’re prepared, but I know the education you have received at DMU will prepare you well.”
Jennifer Beaty, M.D., FACS, FASCRS, COM associate dean of student advancement and graduate medical education and interim associate dean of clinical affairs, congratulated the class and then introduced her annual tradition of altering a song to fit the match day occasion. This year, she recruited Sarah Parrott, D.O.’02, FAAFP, chair and associate professor of osteopathic clinical medicine; Amy Shriver, M.D., assistant professor of specialty medicine; and Marianka Pille, M.D., FAAP, interim chair and associate professor of specialty medicine, to sing and record “DMU’s Match Song,” adapted from Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song”:
Like a small boat
On the ocean
Sending big waves
Into motion
Remember how you’ve worked
With love and devotion
You will only have one match
Leave no doubt you were chosenAnd all those hurdles you overcame
Second thoughts inside your brain
We will scream them loud tonight
Can you hear our voice this time?This is your match song
DMU’s Match Song
Proving you belong
Your power’s turned on
Starting right now you’ll be strong
We’ll play your match song
And we want you to know everyone here believes
’Cause it’s almost time to login to the match and see…
Students logged on to the match website at 11 a.m. CDT to find out which program they matched with. Among the class’s 205 members, the top specialties in which they placed are family medicine, 49; internal medicine, 38; emergency medicine, 29; anesthesiology, 16; psychiatry, 15; and pediatrics, 14. The top six states among the 35 states where their residencies are located are Iowa, 44; Michigan, 23; Illinois, 20; California and Minnesota, 12 each; and Wisconsin, 11.