Fourth-year students in the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine today took part in Match Day, the annual event where medical students nationwide learn where they will begin their medical residency training following graduation.

Among this year's graduating class of 137 students, 43 percent (59 students) chose primary care specialties, which include family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics. There were 15 matches in family medicine programs, 15 in internal medicine, eight in obstetrics and gynecology, and 21 in pediatrics.

The top three nonprimary care specialties were general surgery with 11 matches, anesthesiology with nine, and emergency medicine with eight.

Among this year's graduates, 41 will remain in Iowa for their first year of postgraduate training, and 25 of these 41 students will train next year at UI Hospitals and Clinics.

Geographically, the most popular state after Iowa for first-year training was Minnesota, with nine graduating students beginning their residencies there. Wisconsin will receive eight UI graduates and Missouri will receive seven.

This year's match results, including individual results by name, state, and specialty, will be available online.

The National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) helps place graduating medical students in such programs. Most of the students who will earn medical degrees at the UI this year (129 of the 137 students) participated in the NRMP. One student secured a residency through the armed forces, and seven students opted to defer residency training.