Laughter and greetings echoed in the lobby of the Veritas Science Center on Friday, March 20, as members of the Harvard Medical School Class of 2026 gathered to learn where they will continue their medical training.
Students stood with their classmates, family members, friends, and teachers, taking pictures, holding bouquets of flowers, and excitedly awaiting noon, when a bell would ring and let them know it was time to open the envelopes containing the names of the institutions where they had matched for their residencies.
HMS student Caroline Diggins, joined by her parents and brother, said she felt grateful for her time at the School.
“It’s been such a great journey, and amazing people have supported me along the whole way,” Diggins said. “Today feels like a reflection of all of that.”
At noon, Jennifer Potter, interim dean for students at HMS, rang the bell.
Cheers and joyful tears erupted as students discovered where they will be spending the next several years. Friends and family embraced. Some jumped for joy. Others called loved ones who couldn’t attend in person to share their big news.
Megan Goh learned she had matched with the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program, her top choice.
“It’s been a dream come true,” Goh said. “I could not have asked for a better Match Day. I’m so thankful for my education here, and I’m excited to continue to be part of the Harvard family.”
In addition to professional goals, many have personal reasons for hoping to match at a particular hospital.
For Lois Owolabi, matching in general surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center meant she’d be able to stay in the Boston area with her fiancé, Naahanna Akahara, a second-year resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“That was a prayer, to be here with her in Boston,” Akahara said.
Owolabi sees general surgery as an opportunity to take care of patients when medical management alone isn’t enough. Asked to name her favorite surgery, Owolabi didn’t hesitate: the Whipple procedure.
“It’s long, but it’s a good combination of a dissection and then reconnecting things,” she said. “It’s really a good reflection of what a good surgeon can do.”
Top specialties and locations
In this year’s National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), 145 HMS students matched in clinical specialties. Almost half of those (66 students) will continue their training at HMS-affiliated hospitals, while others will join leading institutions across the United States. In addition, three students will train in oral and maxillofacial surgery, and nine will pursue nonclinical paths.
Students have many reasons for choosing their residency specialty, and the range of placements highlights the breadth of opportunities available to HMS graduates.
The most popular specialty this year was internal medicine, with 40 students matching. Other popular fields included anesthesiology, dermatology, general surgery, and psychiatry.
Some graduates will enter specialized fields, such as radiation oncology, otolaryngology, and vascular surgery. Others will pursue careers in primary care, addressing critical gaps in access and continuity of care.
Jiwoo Lee was thrilled to learn she had matched at Beth Israel Deaconess in vascular surgery.
“I spent a month at Beth Israel on rotation, and all the mentors and attendings and residents are people who I wanted to be as a surgeon when I grew up,” Lee said. “That’s where I wanted to be, and I wanted to train with them.”
Lee was joined by her parents and her boyfriend, Jules Allbritton-King, a student in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST).
“I’m not matching for another four years, but the energy today is palpable,” Allbritton-King said. After the celebration, he planned to go upstairs to the lab of Guillermo Garcia-Cardeña, HMS associate professor of pathology at Brigham and Women’s, where Allbritton-King is working on a medical engineering project involving cardiac organoids.
Matthew Reynolds said he was extremely excited to match with Brigham and Women’s in internal medicine.
“I just love the way that in internal medicine, you really get exposure to all areas of medicine,” Reynolds said. “You can care for all aspects of a patient, holistically.”
Reynolds was also pleased his match meant he could stay in the Boston area with his partner, Deanna Gutierrez, an MBA candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. They have been together since they were undergraduates at Harvard College.
“I’ve seen his journey,” Gutierrez said of Reynolds. “He’s worked so hard for this accomplishment.”
Matching explained
The NRMP administers the residency placement process with a centralized system that aligns applicant and program preferences through a structured algorithm. Over the course of the academic year, students complete applications, participate in interviews, and rank their preferred programs, while residency programs also evaluate and rank candidates. The NRMP says it strives for a fair and transparent process for assigning residency positions.
For HMS students, participation in the Match builds on a comprehensive educational experience that includes foundational science training, clinical rotations across world-renowned teaching hospitals, and opportunities for scholarly research. These experiences are designed to prepare graduates not only for the technical demands of residency, but also for leadership, collaboration, and lifelong learning.
What the future holds
Members of the Class of 2026 will come together again at Harvard University Commencement and HMS Class Day in May before beginning residency training or other career paths this summer. As they transition into this next phase, they carry forward the knowledge, values, and commitment to service cultivated during their time at HMS.
Match Day serves not only as a moment of celebration, but also as a reminder of the responsibility that accompanies the practice of medicine, reflected HMS Dean George Q. Daley in brief remarks before the noon bell.
“Becoming a physician is a privilege,” Daley said. “You’re going to have the opportunity to impact lives at their most vulnerable. With that privilege comes an enormous responsibility. But balancing the gravity of that privilege will be tremendous joy. There is just nothing more wonderful than using your talents for the betterment of others, for the health and well-being of all.”
“We are so proud of you at Harvard Medical School for all that you have done while you’ve been here and all that you are going to do in your future careers,” Daley concluded.
