March 20, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The 2003 graduating class at the University of Alabama School of Medicine at UAB will send nearly half of its graduates into one of the primary care specialties according to numbers released at today’s Match Day. Match Day is when graduating seniors at medical schools all across the country simultaneously find out where they will be doing their residency training and in what field. The program is run by the National Resident Matching Program.

Forty seven percent of the UAB graduates will conduct their residency training in one of the primary care fields; internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics or obstetrics/gynecology.

“At UAB, we encourage our graduates to consider the primary care fields, and in the last few years we’ve seen the number of graduates who pursue residencies in primary care go up dramatically,” said Dr. Kathy Nelson, associate dean for students. “There is a great need for more primary care physicians in this country, particularly in the rural south and inner cities.”

Seventy two percent of the 2003 graduates will do their residency training in the Southeast, with 42 percent remaining within the state of Alabama. Graduates will serve residencies in 32 different states and the District of Columbia.

“Young physicians tend to establish their permanent practices in the same state or region where they received postgraduate training,” she said. “More residents remaining in-state translates into better health care and better access to health care for all Alabamians.”

A record 24,000 fourth year medical students across the country received their residency assignments in today's Match Day, now in its 51st year.