Celebrating Resilience, Community, and New Beginnings
Michael Ivey (right) celebrates with friends and family after matching at Northwestern, during Match Day.
Each year, fourth-year medical students across the country view the third week of March as the beginning of their careers in medicine. Match Day, created in 1952, is an event organized by the National Resident Match Program during which students in the United States are "matched" with residency and fellowship training programs throughout the country.
On Friday, March 20, 2026, 140 fourth-year medical students at Duke opened their envelopes and learned where in the country they will complete residency training. Duke medical students are headed to some of the nation’s most prestigious residency programs, with 36 matching at Duke.
2026 Match Highlights
| # | Most Frequently Matched Specialty |
|---|---|
| 39 | Internal Medicine |
| 14 | General Surgery |
| 11 | Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| 9 | Anesthesiology |
| 9 | Orthopaedics |
| 9 | Pediatrics |
| 6 | Emergency Medicine |
| # | Most Matched Geographical Locations |
|---|---|
| 47 | North Carolina |
| 16 | Massachusetts |
| 15 | New York |
| 12 | Illinois |
| 11 | Pennsylvania |
| 9 | California |
| # | Most Frequently Matched Institution |
|---|---|
| 36 | Duke University |
| 6 | UNC Hospitals |
| 5 | Mass General Brigham |
| 5 | NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center |
All Matches
| # of Matches | Specialty |
|---|---|
| 9 | Anesthesiology |
| 5 | Dermatology |
| 6 | Emergency Medicine |
| 6 | Family Medicine |
| 36 | Internal Medicine |
| 3 | Internal Medicine/Pediatrics |
| 2 | Neurological Surgery |
| 1 | Neurology |
| 11 | Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| 4 | Ophthalmology |
| 9 | Orthopaedic Surgery |
| 4 | Otolaryngology |
| 2 | Pathology |
| 9 | Pediatrics |
| 2 | Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation |
| 3 | Plastic Surgery |
| 4 | Psychiatry |
| 6 | Radiology-Diagnostic |
| 2 | Radiology-Interventional |
| 14 | Surgery-General |
| 1 | Surgery-Vascular |
| 1 | Urology |
-
Friends and family gathered for Match Day -
Members of the student affairs team pose for photos in a photo booth, before the Match Day ceremony. -
Alex Soto poses for photos before the start of the ceremony. -
Students were presented with a champagne flute from the Duke Med Alumni Association during the Match Day ceremony. -
Blair Rikard and her family pose for a photo before the start of the Match Day ceremony -
Faculty representative Jamie Fox, MD, addresses the students gathered for the Match Day. -
Leonor Corsino, MD, student advisor, watches a video of tributes to the students. -
Sydney Sheffield celebrates as she returns to her seat after receiving her envelope. -
Lucero Hernandez adds her dollar bill to the vase after getting her envelope. -
Joseph Jackson, MD, presents Meible Chi with a vase full of dollar bills after she was the last student to be given her Match Day envelope -
Adwoa Baffoe-Bonnie (right) celebrates with her mother, Anne, after opening her match letter and finding out she matched at Columbia. -
May Gao (second from left) cries tears of joy after matching at UCSF. -
Gabriela Nisley fills out a match poster after matching at Johns Hopkins. -
Miriam Chisholm (right) celebrates after finding out she matched at Vanderbilt. -
A student posing with their match posters after the ceremony.
Photos by Mark Dolejs, Senior Visual Storyteller
Video by Daniel Dunston, Senior Multimedia Producer