Match Day 2025: Cheers, tears and a new record

Jillian Bowman’s hands shook as she opened her envelope. But the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine student saw exactly what she had hoped: a match with Boston Children’s Hospital for her pediatric residency.

“I just started crying,” said Bowman, who hugged her parents and her grandmother, Glenda Ashley, MD, a retired Chicago pediatrician. “It’s been a whirlwind of emotions.”

Bowman was among 85 Pritzker students who learned their residency placements Friday during the annual Match Day celebration in Ida Noyes Hall.

After applying and interviewing at multiple hospitals, the students ranked their top picks. On Match Day, they learned where they’ll spend the next four years (or more) of their lives and careers. Some jokingly call it “employment day” because it means the start of full-time jobs after nearly a decade of paying tuition.

Following speeches, senior superlatives, prize giveaways and a Class of 2025 photo montage, Pritzker students simultaneously opened their envelopes and the room erupted in cheers. People hugged, cried, high-fived and shared their news with classmates and family members, some via FaceTime.

“I’m so happy," said Adaora Ekwonu, who matched with University of Pennsylvania for psychiatry. "This is such a surreal moment.”

Record number of students match for psychiatry

Ekwonu is one of a record-high 17% of Pritzker students who matched for a psychiatry residency, mirroring a growing interest in the field nationwide.

Armaan Singh, who also will head to UPenn for his psychiatry residency, was inspired by shifting needs fueled by the pandemic. “During COVID, mental health really came to the forefront,” he said. “It’s a really interesting and fast-growing field.”

The specialty goes far beyond psychoanalysis; it folds in neurology, policy, education and research on new medications, substance abuse, depression, dementia and much more, said Deborah Spitz, MD, Professor of Adult Psychiatry, Director of Residency Training and Vice Chair for Education and Academic Affairs.

It explains why more medical students have recognized the need — and the potential. “They see the impact of mental health on other health conditions and realize the impact they can make as a mental health provider,” said Shivani Kumar, MD, Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry.

Where Pritzker students are headed for 2025 residency match

The top specialties among Pritzker’s Class of 2025 were:

• Internal Medicine (22 students; 26%)
• Psychiatry (14; 17%)
• General Surgery (7; 8%)
• Pediatrics (6; 7%)
• Orthopaedic Surgery (5; 6%)

Nearly half of Pritzker's Class of 2025 will stay in the Midwest, and nearly one-quarter will stay at UChicago Medicine.

The top institutions where students matched were:

• University of Chicago Medical Center (20)
• University of California system (8)
• Harvard University programs (5)
• Northwestern University programs(5)
• Stanford University programs (4)
• University of Illinois College of Medicine (4)

Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, Pritzker’s Dean of Medical Education, congratulated the class for having a profound impact on the South Side, where they staffed free clinics and did community engagement and health research.

With convocation coming up June 7, many in the close-knit class felt bittersweet about having to say goodbye and disperse around the country for their residencies. Still, “you are always part of our family,” Arora told them.

Most of all, the students are excited about their futures, including Kishan Sangani, who matched at the University of California, San Diego for a dermatology residency.

"After going to graduate school and medical school, I can finally get to where I'm going," he said.