As they set their eyes on their fourth year of medical education, students at PCOM South Georgia are also setting their eyes on residency programs.

During their fourth year of medical school, DO students will participate in a residency match. To do so, they will interview with residency programs until February 1 when students begin preparing their rank order list. At that time, they rank their preferred programs while the residency programs also rank their preferred students. From there, matches are compiled through an algorithm.

To help prepare the students for that process, PCOM hosted a virtual residency fair during the month of April that saw more than 75 sessions from residency programs across the country. Held annually, the fair presents students in their first three years of medical school with the chance to speak with residency programs and attend sessions of interest-based on the specialty and program. During these sessions, presenters provide an overview of their program and allow time for students to ask questions.

Candace Tucker, assistant director of student affairs at PCOM Georgia, said the annual residency fair is always a great opportunity for students to connect with program directors and current residents.

“Our students learn about the residency programs’ opportunities, the application process, what they look for in a candidate and residency life. It's important for students to attend to learn as much about the specialties and programs and how they align with their personal career goals.”

The residency fair, while especially important for fourth-year students, was open to all PCOM DO students. Destiny Sciuva (DO ‘25) attended five emergency medicine residency program sessions as a first-year medical student. She said, “I was worried that as a first-year medical student it may be a little early to try and start thinking about these things, but each program actually reassured me that it's never too early to learn. Even understanding the process of coordinating audition rotations is helpful because these things can be competitive and overwhelming. I am thankful for the opportunity to hear from each of the programs!”

PCOM South Georgia’s Match Day will take place on March 17, 2023.