Two students wearing maroon t-shirts embrace while a student claps next to them

Match Day

Match Day is an annual rite of passage for fourth-year medical students (M4s). On the third Friday of March, tens of thousands of M4s throughout the U.S. open their personalized envelopes at 11 a.m. CT (noon ET) to learn where they will continue medical training for the next three to seven years.

The National Resident Matching Program® is an independent, non-profit organization providing a fair and equitable platform for “matching” residency program directors’ preferences with those of medical school graduates. Students and residency programs submit their rank order lists, and then a computerized mathematical algorithm matches medical students with residency programs.

On Friday, March 20, 2026, the Stritch community gathered with our M4s and their families and friends for a Match Day celebration. Watch the Match Day livestream recording to relive the excitement of the moment when the Stritch physicians-in-training opened their envelopes with great anticipation to learn where they matched for residency.

Match Day 2026 by the numbers

159

students

25

states matched

24

specialties matched

Map of the United States showing the percentage of students in the Stritch Class of 2026 matching in the various regions of the U.S. (West, Midwest, South, and East), as well as the percentage of those matching in the Midwest who matched at LUMC.

The Stritch Class of 2026 matched in a diverse range of specialties.

35%

MATCHED IN PRIMARY CARE

Within primary care: 22% matched in Internal Medicine, 4% in Family Medicine,
5% in Pediatrics, 3% in Meds/Peds, and 2% in Preliminary Medicine.

For the remaining 65%, the largest number of those physicians-in-training matched into:

14%

MATCHED IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE

6%

MATCHED IN ANESTHESIOLOGY

6%

MATCHED IN GENERAL SURGERY

6%

MATCHED IN OBSTETRICS-GYNECOLOGY

Match Day 2026 in photos

A student wearing a maroon Match Day 2026 t-shirt jumps for joy

Seven students wearing maroon Match Day 2026 t-shirts and holding signs saying what specialty they matched into and where

A student wearing a maroon t-shirt with writing indicating he matched in emergency medicine at Loyola walks with his two children

A student wearing a maroon Match Day t-shirt and her family members having a champagne toast

Students, families, friends, and members of the Stritch community react after students receive their residency matches during Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine's Match Day celebration in Maywood on Friday, March 20, 2026. (Photos by: Lukas Keapproth)