WSU’s first graduating class of medical students celebrates Match Day

SPOKANE, Wash. — It’s something students anticipate as they go through medical school — Match Day. It’s when students find out where they’re going to be spending their residency on the path to becoming a doctor.

On Friday, Match Day was extra special for Washington State University students. This is the first class of medical students who can participate in Match Day.

The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine welcomed its first class of medical students in August 2017. After four years, the students found out Friday morning where they’re going to learn more about the medical field.

“For me personally I’m over the moon. I get to stay here in Spokane at Sacred Heart,” said Brent Conrad, a fourth- year medical student at WSU. “I matched into Family Medicine, which has been my dream since I was a kid.”

Conrad said he couldn’t be happier, especially through what’s been a tough year for us all. During the pandemic, Conrad said there was a period of time where students were learning virtual patient cases.

Students were soon welcomed back into hospitals for their clinicals, though some students hoped to be back sooner and help our frontline workers.

“We weren’t able to be on the front lines with them for obvious and safety reasons,” said fourth-year medical student Jamie Mackiewicz. “Last June we were able to come back into the clinical learning environment and we were able to stay safe.”

Mackiewicz is heading to study Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. She calls her experience through everything rewarding.

“It truly creates a village to create a medical school and help med students get to the next step in training,” she said. “It’s just amazing to see how far we’ve come to class and school.”

WSU is having a virtual Match Day ceremony for students and families. You can watch that on Friday at 6 p.m. here.

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