It was a perfect match. For the first time in several years, all seven of Crozer-Keystone Health System’s residency programs successfully filled all their spots through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and the National Osteopathic Match Program.
These programs, conducted annually, match the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency programs to fill the available training positions at United States teaching hospitals.
“This was a great year for our match,” says William Warning, M.D., residency director of the Family Medicine Residency Program. “After going into the scramble last year, it was a relief to fill all seven of our positions through the match.”
Warning also added that the decline in the number of physicians going into family medicine has continued its trend again this year. He reported that Crozer-Keystone was one of only a few family medicine residency programs in the Philadelphia area to fill all of their positions in this year’s match.
The Podiatric Surgery Residency Program also experienced a decrease in candidates. “With the decreasing number of applicants, I’m very pleased to have filled our residency positions with three of our top five candidates,” says William Urbas, D.P.M, director of the Podiatric Surgery Residency Program.
“As the number of candidates continues to decrease, the students now have the upper hand and can be very selective about the residency programs they choose,” Urbas adds. “However, this allows Crozer to differentiate itself through its extensive surgical and learning opportunities for residents.”
Guy Hewlett, M.D., director of the OB/GYN Residency Program, says that the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program also had a very successful match. “We were very fortunate to fill our three residency spots from our list of top candidates,” he says.
“This year, we received 250 applications from candidates throughout the country and around the world,” Hewlett says. “We are truly pleased to recruit these particular applicants because they all have previous medical experience and are eager to start the program.”
In her second year as director of the Transitional Residency Program, Dina Capalongo, D.O., is also very pleased with her 14 new residents. “A unique fact about this year’s group is that 12 of our 14 residents are graduates of Philadelphia-area medical schools, and each of the four allopathic Philadelphia schools are represented,” Capalongo says. “This proves that our reputation is as strong as ever in our local communities and at our local medical schools.”
James McHugh, D.O., director of CKHS Osteopathic Medical Education, participated in the National Osteopathic Match Program one week before the NRMP match.
“I’m very excited about the students in this year’s class,” McHugh says. “We interviewed 60 applicants to fill our 16 positions and are very pleased with the outcome of the match.”
McHugh also added that from the current osteopathic interns, two plan to move into Crozer’s Pediatric Residency Program and another into the Internal Medicine Residency Program.
According to English Willis, M.D., director of the Pediatric Residency Program, “We accepted two osteopathic interns this year prior to the match. This was a win-win situation because we already had the opportunity to get to know and work with them, while they already knew what to expect from us. In addition, they are already familiar with the hospital and should transition very easily into the residency program.”
In addition to the two osteopathic interns, Willis successfully filled the remaining four residency positions through the match.
Susan Williams, M.D., director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, agreed with Willis and is happy to have a former Crozer osteopathic intern filling one of her eight residency positions.
“I’m very pleased with the quality of the students applying for our residency positions,” Williams says. “I strongly believe this is due to our committed faculty and staff that continue to expand and improve the curriculum we offer these new physicians.”
The new physicians will begin their residencies in July.