Match Day Challenge Will Support Future Physicians

Match Day is one of the most important days in a medical student’s educational experience, and sometimes in their whole life.

It is the day on which students across the country come together with their medical school classes to learn where they have matched for residency training, and to anyone who has experienced it, the energy in the room that day is nearly indescribable.

“Everyone is bursting at the seams with excitement and anticipation about what’s going to happen,” said Clifford Deal, M.D. a member of the VCU School of Medicine Class of 2000.

It is the culmination of four years battling together through a grueling curriculum to become physicians who will change and save lives for decades. So, when students finally open their letters to find out their match, there are a range of emotions.

“It was agonizing up to that point. I couldn’t sleep; I couldn’t eat,” said David Randolph II, M.D., a member of the Class of 2011. “And when I opened the letter, I immediately went down to where it said Wake Forest and I just went catatonic or limp. I was just so excited.”

“It was the best,” said David’s sister Jessica Randolph, M.D., who experienced Match Day at VCU herself two years before her brother. “It’s literally up there in my top 10 days ever.”

This year, Match Day is March 18, and the VCU School of Medicine is asking for help honoring the Class of 2022’s 181 graduates. Donors can support the school’s annual fund in support of medical student scholarships.

Gifts this year could make the difference in unlocking an additional $50,000 in scholarship funds if the school reaches its goal of 250 gifts.

“What we do helps define who we are,” said Dr. Deal, who is a surgeon in Richmond. “And Match Day was the first day to get me to this point where I am today.”

To honor the VCU School of Medicine Class of 2022, make your gift on March 18 at go.vcu.edu/matchday2022.