Posted on March 21, 2002 at 12:50 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The 2002 graduating class at the University of Alabama School of Medicine at UAB ranks as one of the best in the nation and one of UAB’s best ever, based on test scores and residency match criteria, said Dr. Kathleen Nelson, associate dean for students, at Thursday’s Match Day ceremony. Match Day is when graduating seniors at medical schools all across the country simultaneously find out where they will be doing their residency training and in what field. The program is run by the National Resident Matching Program.

Forty six percent of the 154 UAB graduates will conduct their residency training in one of the primary care fields; internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics or obstetrics/gynecology.

“At UAB, we encourage our graduates to consider the primary care fields, and in the last few years we’ve seen the number of graduates who pursue residencies in primary care go up dramatically,” said Nelson. “There is a great need for more primary care physicians in this country, particularly in the rural south and inner cities.”

Seventy five percent of the 2002 graduates will do their residency training in the Southeast, with 49 percent remaining within the state of Alabama. Graduates will serve residencies in 29 different states and the District of Columbia.

“Young physicians tend to establish their permanent practices in the same state or region where they received postgraduate training,” she said. “More residents remaining in-state translates into better health care and better access to health care for all Alabamians.”

Approximately 20,000 fourth year medical students across the country received their residency assignments in today's Match Day, now in its 50th year.