Eager and excited Weill Cornell students moments before finding their Match Day results.
Click here for a slideshow of Match Day 2008.
Their professional futures — in the form of single page folded and tucked neatly into a plain white envelope — were sitting on a table just a few feet away.
For 96 Weill Cornell Medical College students and, for the very first time, 15 students at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the last four years have constituted a narrowing path to this moment. "Match Day" is a sort of national holiday for med students, the day when students at medical schools all over the country will learn where they will be taking their residency training following graduation.
In an Olin Hall gym charged with equal parts excitement and nerves, Dr. Carol Storey-Johnson, senior associate dean for education, reassured all 96 that, as a class, they had done themselves and Weill Cornell very proud.
Dean Antonio M. Gotto Jr. toasts the Class of 2008.
"From a historical perspective, this year's match is the best match we've had since we've been keeping statistics," Dr. Storey-Johnson said.
Just before the students descended on their envelopes, Dean Antonio M. Gotto Jr., with his champagne glass raised, congratulated the class of 2008 and offered a last bit of advice as they embarked on this next chapter of their careers.
"May you always remain Cornellians," Dr. Gotto toasted.
The applause from Dr. Gotto's toast segued seamlessly into individual explosions of joy, excitement and a bit of relief as the students opened their envelopes and learned of their matches.
"I'm so happy I feel like I'm going to faint," said Tiffani McDonough, who will train in pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine, her first choice.
Medical students, with the help and guidance of faculty advisers, can target dozens of potential residency programs all across the country. After extensive interviews with program directors and department heads, both the students and the hospitals list their respective top choices with the goal of not only creating a good fit for the student, but for the program as well.
A table covered with 96 sealed envelopes awaited the students.
Weill Cornell students are routinely accepted into the nation's top programs and institutions, and the class of 2008 did nothing to diminish that track record. This year, all 96 students matched to a top 50 hospital as ranked by the U.S.News & World Report survey. Internal medicine was the most popular specialty this year, with 26 students accepting appointments. Dermatology, one of the most sought-after and competitive specialties, will be home to three Weill Cornell students.
One of the lucky few, class president Anthony Rossi, was considerably relieved after learning that was accepted to the residency program at St. Luke's–Roosevelt Hospital Center.
"I only listed four programs so it's been a bit nerve-wracking," Rossi said. "But I'm so happy. I'm from New York and I wanted to stay in New York."
Rossi's father, Anthony Sr., may have been even more ecstatic that his son.
Challon Perry (left) celebrates his match in surgery-preliminary at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, with classmate Karen Adler, who will complete her residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts General.
"Twelve years, we've been waiting for this," he said. "Every year has been working toward this. I feel like I just gave birth."
After four years in New York City, some students learned they'd be leaving the Upper East Side behind. Donald Cannon will be heading off to the University of Wisconsin at Madison to join its radiation-oncology program.
Class president Anthony Rossi and his proud parents celebrate Anthony's match in dermatology at New York Hospital Queens and St. Luke's–Roosevelt.
"I'm very happy with where I'm going," Cannon said. "It's a very strong program."
But for others, an educational journey that began at Weill Cornell will continue there. Current classmates Vivian Lee and Conor Liston were thrilled to learn they would be reunited, this time as psychology residents at the Payne Whitney Clinic.
"I'm doing very, very good," Lee gushed. "A lot of program directors I interviewed with had let me know that there would probably be a spot for me. While it's great to talk to all the program directors and hear back from them, I think I got the best one."
At WCMC-Q, the school's inaugural class of 15 learned that they had matched to some of the top U.S. programs, including at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Minnesota, and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
"You guys did amazingly well," said Dr. Maya Hammoud, vice dean for education at WCMC-Q. "You've proven that you can make it anywhere you want."
Photography by Richard Lobell.