News Release | Health
Match Day is the culmination of the four years of medical school when students are matched with the medical residency program they will begin after graduation. The Class of 2025 will now join more than 200 medical students, now physician-alumni, who have matched throughout the nearly ten years of offering the medical degree to the Rio Grande Valley on Friday, March 21, at the UTRGV University Recreation. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)
Monday, March 17, 2025
Community, Health
By Saira Cabrera
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – MARCH 17, 2025 – In a basketball-themed celebration, ‘Match Madness’ will celebrate 50 UTRGV School of Medicine students from the Class of 2025 participating in the school’s sixth annual Match Day event on Friday, March 21.
Match Day, which will be held at the UTRGV University Recreation, marks the culmination of four years of medical school and is one of the most important days for medical students, determining where they will ‘match’ for their specialized medical residency programs – the next step in their journey to becoming physicians.
On Friday at 11 a.m., UTRGV School of Medicine medical students will join their peers nationwide to open envelopes from the National Resident Matching Program, revealing the next chapter in their medical careers.
Match Day is a selective and rigorous process that involves ranking and matching medical students to specialized residency programs.
Dr. Michael B. Hocker, dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine and senior vice president for UT Health RGV, said that wherever the Class of 2025 matches, it reflects the school’s educational excellence and the students’ hard work and determination.
"Making it to Match Day is an achievement all on its own,” Hocker said. “It’s a day filled with a whirlwind of emotions – excitement, anticipation and even nervousness. Regardless of where our students match, locally or in another excellent residency program, they are incredibly talented and have already achieved so much. We are very proud of them for what they have achieved thus far and for what’s to come."
He noted that the Class of 2025 will join more than 200 medical students, now physician-alumni, who have matched in nearly a decade of offering medical degrees to the Rio Grande Valley.
Fourth-year medical student Shuaibahmed Arab expressed confidence in excelling during his upcoming residency, attributing his preparedness to his education at UTRGV.
“Every experience and opportunity provided by the UTRGV School of Medicine has made me the person I am today,” Arab said. “I feel confident in my abilities to continue into residency and perform exceptionally. Not only as a resident, but also as a contributing member to whichever community I end up in.”
Over the six years of Match Day, students from the School of Medicine have matched with prestigious institutions, including Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Stanford University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, among many others.
After matching with a residency program, students will begin their specialized training following graduation in May, stepping into their roles as practicing physicians.
“I am forever grateful for the opportunity the School of Medicine provided me to return after undergrad to care for the community who raised me,” said Carlos Cisneros, a Valley native and fourth-year medical student. “I will use my training and experiences here to represent the Valley well wherever I match.”
For more information about UTRGV School of Medicine Match Day, visit UTRGV.edu/MatchDay.ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.