The doctors of tomorrow are learning today where their career in medicine will take them, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
This is what is called in medicine Match Day, where students who will graduate from medical schools around the country are learning where they will do their residencies.
For students at San Antonio's U.T. Health Medical School, that will be where they could be spending the next seven years of their lives, and where many of them will start their practice and live until retirement.
Even though the students have some input, much of the matching is random, which means many of them could find themselves in New York, Florida, Hawaii, or Alaska.
Dr. Ron Rodriguez, who is the Acting Dean of the Medical School, says practicing medicine for the next several decades will be far more challenging than the past has been for doctors.
"They way that we get reimbursed, the way that we deliver care has gone through dramatic transformation," he said. "The pressures that decide what we go into, the financial pressures are as dramatic as they have ever been."
Many of the students were accompanied were friends, parents, or spouses for the big day, which was accompanied by a lot of cheering and hugging.
Allison Corona, who will be Dr. Allison Corona when she graduates from U.T. Health next month, says she is excited about starting her practice in pediatrics."Its really nerve wracking, but its an incredible day," she said. "But it is really incredible to have all our friends and family and colleagues here to celebrate us."
Also on hand were the Army and Navy, which are also recruiting new physicians into their ranks, with officers' commissions to go along.
Since most of the graduates are in their early twenties, the will be practicing medicine well into the 2050s, and many are excited to see what the future of medicine holds for them.
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