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University of Illinois Chicago medical students receive their matches to hospitals
Big day for med students at UIC. They just opened envelopes to see where they'll train next. Where they end up matters. It can affect how easy it is to see a doctor in Illinois. And the state definitely needs more doctors right now.
CHICAGO - Hundreds of medical students across the city, including at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine, opened sealed envelopes revealing where they will begin residency training, a milestone that comes as Illinois faces a growing shortage of doctors.
Match Day happens nationwide at the same moment. Graduating medical students learn where they will spend the next several years training in hospitals and clinics before they can practice independently.
Health workforce experts say those placements matter beyond the ceremony. Illinois could be short more than 6,200 physicians by the end of the decade, according to the Illinois State Medical Society. Fewer doctors can translate into longer waits for appointments or fewer care options, particularly in communities that already struggle to attract providers.
A personal milestone
Inside a packed auditorium at UIC, students counted down together before opening their envelopes. Some cried. Others jumped into hugs. Phones were raised to record reactions.
One student, Mike, said he was "super excited" after matching at Ohio State, calling it a program that felt like the right place for his family.
Another student, Jakara Hubbard, matched into family medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, the program she ranked first.
"There’s a mixture of both nerves and excitement," Hubbard said before opening her results. "I can’t wait to figure out where I’m moving."
Hubbard, 40, is a career changer who spent about 15 years working as a marriage and family therapist and running a private practice before returning to school.
"It’s never too late," she said.
Why residency placements matter
Residency placements are coordinated by the National Resident Matching Program. Students and hospitals submit ranked lists, and an algorithm pairs candidates with training programs.
More than 50,000 applicants competed for roughly 41,000 residency positions nationwide this year, according to data shared during the ceremony.
Illinois also faces limits on how many physicians it can train. About 237 primary care residency slots open each year statewide, and workforce data shows more than 45 percent of those doctors later leave Illinois to practice elsewhere.
What happens next
Residency training typically begins in early summer and can last three to seven years depending on specialty. State leaders have approved a fast-track licensing pathway for some foreign-trained physicians in an effort to address shortages.
For patients, the impact of Match Day may not be immediate. But where new doctors train and later choose to practice could shape access to care across Illinois in the years ahead.
The Source: This story contains reporting from Fox Chicago's Terrence Lee.