Today, the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM) celebrated Match Day with its inaugural class of medical students who will graduate this spring, as the 145 graduating physicians learned where they will complete their residency training.
“We are so proud of our inaugural class! They have been true trailblazers over the last four years as we launched our new medical school,” said Dr. Thomas J. Mohr, ICOM Dean and Chief Academic Officer. “They were the first to tackle our rigorous curriculum, they helped established student organizations and community service projects, they performed extremely well on their national board examinations and have excelled in their clinical rotations at hospitals and clinics across Idaho and our region. Today we celebrate the fruits of their efforts and take one step closer to their graduation on May 13.”
Match Day is a major milestone for fourth-year medical students. The annual event occurs on the third Friday in March when the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) notifies graduating medical students from across the country of the location where they will continue their medical training. For several months, students have been applying and interviewing for these coveted spots in their medical specialties of choice. 
Twelve will remain in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota — known as ICOM’s five-state target region — helping to address the shortage of physicians in the Mountain West region, with eight remaining in Idaho. Thirty-three graduating physicians will pursue family medicine, a physician specialty that is critically low in the U.S.; and 55 percent of the graduating physicians will pursue primary care.
“Matching ICOM students into high-quality residency programs, especially here in Idaho and across our five-state region, is critical in the fulfillment of our mission to address the acute and growing shortage of physicians in Idaho and beyond,” said Dr. Tracy J. Farnsworth, ICOM President.
ICOM’s Class of 2022 applied to residency programs throughout the country. ICOM graduates matched and will pursue residencies in the following specialties after graduation:
- Anesthesiology
- Dermatology
- Emergency Medicine
- Family Medicine
- Internal Medicine
- Neurology
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Pathology
- Pediatrics
- Psychiatry
- Surgery
“Becoming a surgeon has always been my dream,” said Kiefer Starks, a fourth-year student at ICOM originally from Twin Falls, Idaho. “Medical school is difficult and challenging. When I found out I matched into surgery, I thought back to how every subject exam, practical, board exam — everything — was finally so worth it. All of that hard work and sacrifice came to fruition. It means so much to be able to celebrate the accomplishments of our class and the culmination of our journey as medical students.”
The Class of 2022 will participate in the College’s inaugural commencement ceremony on Friday, May 13 at the Morrison Center in Boise.
