LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – With the beginning of a new season, a spirit of change was in the air as fourth-year students at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) learned where they will complete the residencies that give them hands-on experience in specific medical specialties.
For the third consecutive year, graduates-to-be attained a 100% residency placement rate. All 184 members of WVSOM’s Class of 2025 will have jobs as resident physicians following their completion of medical school in May. New physicians typically serve in residency programs for three to seven years to qualify for medical licensure.
During an on-campus event on March 21 — designated as Match Day by the National Resident Matching Program, the organization responsible for placing U.S. medical school graduates into residency programs — students gathered on WVSOM’s Lewisburg campus and at locations across WVSOM’s Statewide Campus to share the training sites and specialties they are entering.
Linda Boyd, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer, congratulated the students on a successful match and thanked the school’s graduate medical education staff for the role they played in helping students find residencies.
“It takes a village to create a physician, and our faculty and staff contribute to that effort. But the people who put in the most work are our students,” Boyd said. “You’ve worked hard to get good grades and earn your placements, and you’ve had to be ‘on’ during all your rotations to earn great evaluations. That puts you in a great place and enables you to get great matches.”
A total of 96 students in the Class of 2025, or 65%, are entering primary care residency programs, encompassing family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. A total of 35 students matched to family medicine residencies, 48 matched to internal medicine and 13 matched to pediatrics.
Other popular specialties for this year’s class include emergency medicine, with 26 students; psychiatry, with 16 students; and obstetrics and gynecology, with eight students.
Several students matched to specialties that are considered especially competitive. No WVSOM student has received placement in a plastic surgery residency in at least the past 30 years, and in 2024, only one D.O. student nationwide was selected to enter the specialty. This year, a WVSOM student will train after graduation at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, to become a plastic surgeon.
Other highly competitive specialties in which members of the Class of 2025 were placed include anesthesiology, with nine students; neurology, with five students; diagnostic radiology, with four students; physical medicine and rehabilitation, with three students; and dermatology, with one student.
A total of 31 students matched to residencies in West Virginia, including placements at Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) and hospitals in Beckley, Bridgeport, Huntington, Morgantown, Parkersburg and Wheeling.
Among the students accepted to in-state residencies is Caleb Duncan, who will begin a family medicine residency at CAMC after graduation. Duncan is from Seth, W.Va., a town in Boone County about 25 miles from Charleston.
“Primary care is something I’m passionate about and really wanted to go into,” he said. “I’m excited to go back to the community I’m from. Being close to home will be an awesome experience.”
Abigail Frank, D.O., WVSOM’s assistant dean for graduate medical education, acknowledged students for reaching this point in their careers.
“Your dedication has brought you to this pivotal moment. May your residency be a time of impactful learning and meaningful service, shaping not just your careers but the lives of your future patients. You are embarking on a journey filled with challenges, growth and the profound privilege of caring for others. Embrace the next step with courage and compassion,” Frank said.
Jason Mitten, of Pleasant Grove, Utah, matched to an anesthesiology residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Lititz, Pa. Mitten emphasized the importance of believing in one’s self amid the pressures of medical school.
“You’re always a little nervous about whether you’re going to match, and I’m happy to be on the other side of that now,” he said. “But when it feels like the odds are against you, it’s important to make sure you have faith in yourself. That’s something I’ve been trying to do during this match cycle. I’m grateful that the school has given me this opportunity.”
WVSOM’s Class of 2025 Commencement Ceremony will take place May 2 on the school’s campus in Lewisburg.
