Every year, thousands of medical students across the country reach a defining moment: Match Day — the day they learn where they will train as physicians. For many, it is a celebration of years of sacrifice and achievement. But for many Black medical students, Match Day creates anxiety and too often disappointment.
Like many students, I entered the Match process with high hopes and a clear vision of where I wanted to train, anywhere in Los Angeles. I did not match at my first-choice institution. That moment stays with you, even when you have done everything right. I went to medical school in the 60s at the University of Texas.
Fortunately, I did match in the city I wanted, and that made all the difference. Because ultimately, my goal was not just to train — it was to have that great urban experience, and LA certainly provided that.
But what I remember most about Match Day was not my own result. Some celebrated openly. Others smiled through quiet disappointment. There were students — brilliant, hardworking, fully capable — who did not match where they expected to, or, in some cases, did not match at all.
For Black students, that validation has historically been less certain.
This is why Match Day matters beyond the individual. It is a public health issue. Too often, institutions have decided before the match who they will take. Usually, they have visited these training programs through networks that Black medical students do not have. In the present environment, you almost have to make a decision on the type of training you want in the 3rd grade. In my day, the first year out of medical school was still a decision point for what specialty you wanted. Not anymore.
We have to look at the outcomes for Black students to realize that many factors are at play here that have nothing to do with the medical students’ qualifications.
I did not train at my first-choice institution, but I believe that the reputation of training programs is overrated. I believe you will get out of a program what you put into it. If you are good, no one really ever asks where you did an internship or residency once you establish yourself in a community
Still, we must do better.
We need stronger mentorship for Black medical students so they can make an informed choice. We need more equitable evaluation processes. We also need institutions that are not only willing to accept diverse candidates but also committed to helping them thrive.
Match Day should be a moment of pure celebration. For many situations, the selection process for students is still built on unconscious bias and institutional racism, and Black students encounter that at every level.
As Black physicians, we need to step up and challenge the programs we came from. Challenge your specialties to be more aggressive in the selection process, as the Black community needs more specialists.
Forty years ago, I started the Allergy Asthma Section of the National Medical Association with two other allergists. We lobbied the established organizations in allergy medicine. This year, the President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and the President of the American College of Asthma are both Black women who came from our section. They challenged a seemingly rigged system and won.
To every Black medical student opening that envelope: your destination does not define your destiny.
Where you train is just the beginning. What you become — and who you serve — is what truly matters.
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