Joy and excitement were on full display on Friday, March 21, at Beale Street Landing, where local medical students opened envelopes to find out where they will train as doctors. 

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine’s annual Match Day celebration coincided with nationwide events coordinated by the National Resident Matching Program. 

“The mission of the College of Medicine is to train these students through their four years, and it all culminates on Match Day, when they take the next step in their medical journey or career by matching with their residency program,” said Dr. G. Nicholas Verne, interim dean of the College of Medicine. 

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UTHSC College of Medicine consists of four locations across the state: Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville. 

Memphis is the largest, and medical students spend the first two years of training on the Memphis Medical District campus with a large portion of their clinical training performed in local hospitals. 

On Friday, locations in Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga collectively matched 168 medical students. 

Catherine Womack, associate dean of student affairs and admissions at UTHSC College of Medicine, said most of the students submitted their applications last fall. 

“They interview with the programs, put in a rank-order list of where they’d like to go, and then they find out today,” she said. 

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The opening of the envelopes on Friday was a highly-anticipated moment for members of the class of 2025, who will matriculate in May with their medical degrees following a rigorous, all-consuming four-year program. They will then continue on to post-graduate training programs. 

Of the 168 UT medical students who matched, 75 matched to residencies in Tennessee and 54 will remain at UTHSC for their residencies. 

“We love for our students to go to the program they want, but we want most of our students to stay in Tennessee because we’re training the next generation of healthcare providers,” Womack said. 

Other graduates will enter residencies out of state at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Emory University in Atlanta and many other institutions. 

Brynn Seaton, 27, of Knoxville, matched with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she will begin an internal medicine residency later this year. 

“Ten-plus years of all of our hard work and our family’s efforts to support us and it kind of all comes down to this one day,” she said. “This was one of my favorite programs, so I’m really excited.” 

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Seaton’s clinical training in Memphis has included the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center, and she said UTHSC College of Medicine has set her up for success in her medical career. 

“There’s so much diversity in the patient population and all of the illnesses we see,” she said. “It’s really kind of incredible, and we get to serve this community, which is really great.” 

Seaton’s mother, Liz Seaton of Knoxville, was among the hundreds of loved ones who traveled to Memphis for Match Day. 

“I’m so happy for her,” she said. “She decided when she was in seventh grade that she wanted to be a doctor. She’s worked so hard to get to this point, and her dad and I are just incredibly proud of her.” 

As an internal medicine specialist, Seaton is among the 45% of UTHSC students who matched to primary care specialties, which also include general pediatrics and family medicine.

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Another 36% of students matched to non-primary care specialties, while 18% matched to surgical specialties and the remaining students matched to military residencies.

“Here we are as a school really putting out quality medical professionals who are ready to serve and who are passionate about it,” said Dr. Pallavi Khanna, assistant dean of student affairs and an associate OB-GYN professor at UTHSC College of Medicine. “They’ve taken this oath and followed this calling and they’re full of energy and promises that they will do well for their community and their patients.”