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Medical Students Celebrate Match Day 2016 with Family, Friends

Match Day is an important day for all fourth-year students at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. This year, one SLU student decided to make sure the day was equally important to his girlfriend.

As L. James Willmore, M.D., associate dean for admissions and student affairs at SLU School of Medicine, called out Noah Ehinger's name to come get his envelope, Ehinger dropped to one knee and proposed to Chelsea Gray, his girlfriend of nine and a half years. 

"I had no idea," Gray said. "But apparently he's been planning this for almost a year."

Ehinger said Willmore, other SLU faculty and about 20 of his friends were in on the surprise. He matched at University of Miami in obstetrics and gynecology. Gray is completing her nursing degree at University of Tennessee - Knoxville. 

Each year SLU School of Medicine fourth-year students participate in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). NRMP annually matches students with their preferred choice for residency programs.

This year's Match Day ceremony was held Friday, March 18, at the Chase Park Plaza.

Once Willmore began calling out names, students walked, ran and danced their way through the crowd to receive their envelopes from Gregory Smith, Ph.D., assistant dean for educational development.

The envelopes remained sealed until after 11 a.m. when medical students from across the country simultaneously found out where they would be placed. Vela Chebolu matched at State University of New York at Syracuse with a residency in orthopedic surgery.

"I knew SLU had a good orthopedic surgery program," she said of her decision to attend SLU. "While I was here I got to work with Dr. Lisa Cannada, who was such a great advisor on how to be a woman in orthopedic surgery."

Prior to Match Day, medical students rank their preference for specialties and medical institutions. Hospitals and other medical institutions also list their preference for residents. The rank lists are matched, which results in the selection of students for residency positions.

Alexandra Lee chose to focus on internal medicine, saying her time at SLU had allowed her to work with underserved populations. "I liked the social service aspect of internal medicine," she said. 


Established in 1836, Saint Louis University School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first medical degree west of the Mississippi River. The school educates physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health care on a local, national and international level. Research at the school seeks new cures and treatments in five key areas: cancer, infectious disease, liver disease, aging and brain disease and heart/lung disease.