Medical students in the SELECT, Scholarly Excellence, Leadership Experiences, Collaborative Training, program with Lehigh Valley Health Network/University of South Florida Health Morsani College of Medicine recently participated in the annual Match Day.

The SELECT students joined fourth-year medical students across the country in opening sealed envelopes to reveal the name of their “match” – the medical residency assignment that will shape their careers as physicians.

About a dozen SELECT students participated in a celebration at Renaissance Allentown Hotel, while others in the class participated in Match Day activities at USF’s Tampa campus or celebrated with family and friends.

Jeffrey Brown, of Bethlehem, participated in the Allentown Match event. Brown was matched with University of Pennsylvania for an orthopedic surgery residency. He is the son of pediatrician Dr. Kimberly Brown, with Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital and Valley Health Partners, a passionate advocate for children and families.

“I am incredibly fortunate to be a parent with a front row seat to watch Jeff grow, learn and succeed as a USF SELECT medical student,” Dr. Brown said.

“We are super excited for Match Day and to find out where Jeff will be for the next phase of his journey to become a great orthopedic surgeon. Thank you to all of the teachers and mentors who have supported him and guided him along the way.”

Another student matching in Allentown, Brian Holliday, will spend a year at LVHN before beginning his radiology residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Holliday worked in the casino industry for 10 years as a bank manager and was an elementary school teacher in the West Bank (Palestinian territory) before attending medical school. He is one of two students at the Allentown event juggling the needs of young children while navigating the challenges of medical school.

“Our four-year SELECT program is truly unique among medical school programs,” Dr. Robert Barraco, associate dean for educational affairs of the Lehigh Valley Campus of USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and LVHN’s chief academic officer, said.

“Our partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine means that students get two years of classroom learning at one of the country’s most progressive medical schools – and the region’s highest ranked medical school – and two years of clinical experience right here, at one of the nation’s top health care systems.

“This partnership allows our students to learn from, and be mentored by, some of the top minds in medical education. They are qualified to now go out and teach the world what it means to care for others and to be leaders who will shape the future of health care.”

Match Day is a much-anticipated national event for graduating medical students. The process: Fourth-year medical students apply to residency programs and attend personal interviews with prospective health organizations. After completing the interview phase, students submit a rank order list of their preferred training programs to the National Resident Matching Program. Residency program directors also submit a rank of order list of their preferred students. A database aggregates the lists to come up with residency assignments that shape the careers of future medical doctors. The results are binding.