UCI Med Students Toast ‘Matchups’

Champagne corks popped, cameras flashed and administrators called fruitlessly for quiet as the students’ names were read off and they pushed forward to receive their envelopes.

“Match Day” was a happy occasion for most fourth-year medical students at UC Irvine on Wednesday as they received the results of the computer matchup that determined where they will do their residencies.

The crowded, chaotic ceremony was held in the Medical Student Lounge because of the weather. But the rain didn’t dampen the squeals of joy as 90% of the students got one of their top three choices.

The students are finishing their fourth and final year of medical school classes. In the residencies, they will work long hours at hospitals receiving training in their specialties.

One jubilant student said he got his first choice--Kaiser Permanente in Fontana. “Half my class was trying for this, so I’m really excited,” said Javier Armijo, 29, of Indio, Calif. He plans to go into family practice.

Ken Ibsen, assistant dean of student affairs at the medical school, explained that students rank up to 10 choices of hospitals and other residency programs. The programs, in turn, rank the students. He said students’ and hospitals’ rankings carry about equal weight in determining the final match.

“We did real well,” Ibsen said. Sixty percent of the UCI students got their first choice this year, and another 30% got their second or third.

“I’m very happy--we got our first choice,” said Janine Williams, 24, clutching an envelope proudly. The assignment to Children’s Hospital in San Francisco belongs to her fiance, Ami Bera, 26, of La Palma, but it means Williams will be quitting her job here to move north with him. They plan to marry the day after his graduation.

“It’s exciting--there are lots of changes coming up: moving, graduating. Getting married will probably be the biggest change,” Bera said, elbowing Williams.

Another student, Dave McNaul, had more reason than most to celebrate. He and his wife, Jill, also a medical student, were assigned to the same hospital, Valley Medical Center in Fresno.

But McNaul, who recently returned from a tour as a medic in the Persian Gulf, said he was happier that the ground war had ended quickly. He was injured and returned home in January, just before the ground war started.

“To be home and have the war over is the biggest thing,” McNaul said.