{"id":146514,"date":"2026-09-17T09:57:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?post_type=bu-article&p=146514"},"modified":"2026-09-17T09:57:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:57:50","slug":"md-class-of-2026-matches-into-residency-training-programs","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/medicine\/articles\/2026\/md-class-of-2026-matches-into-residency-training-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"MD Class of 2026 Matches into Residency Training Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Members of the MD Class of 2026 reach for the envelopes that will reveal which residency training program they matched into. Photo by Zo\u00eb Farr<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMD Class of 2026 Matches into Residency Training Programs\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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September 17, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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Joshua Lepson was 15 and in the middle of swim practice at Brookline High School when he experienced the worst headache of his life. He\u2019d lost his sense of balance and orientation and had to be helped out of the pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he got home, his mother Johanna Klein, MD\u201994, a primary care physician, recognized something was terribly wrong. Joshua was rushed to the hospital with a brain hemorrhage that affected his motor skills and required years of rehabilitation to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe sense of my body in space was completely disrupted,\u201d Lepson said. \u201cIt was definitely a profound disruption to my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went from active teen to relearning how to walk. Despite his hardships and long absences from the classroom, Lepson kept up with his schoolwork. When his prospects looked dim, he relied on a will fueled by what he calls \u201cdelusional self-belief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Why can\u2019t I get back to the way I was? Why not me?\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201cI think that shaped the way I view any challenge now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Joshua
Joshua Lepson matched into internal medicine residency program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He\u2019s with his wife Arielle, father Robert and mother Johanna Klein, MD\u201994. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, March 20, Lepson was one of more than 15,000 fourth-year medical students from across the country\u2014including 135 at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine\u2014who opened envelopes to discover where they would be spending the next three to seven years. Gathered in the George Sherman Union\u2019s Metcalf Hall on the Charles River Campus, families and friends celebrated as the soon-to-be MDs matched to the residency training programs where they would learn their specialties, under the supervision of experienced physicians.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy top two choices were a coin flip, so I\u2019m very happy,\u201d said Lepson, who matched into the internal medicine residency program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Match Day traditionally falls on the third Friday in March, which this year also was the first day of spring: a day of new beginnings. Organized by the Student Affairs Office and the Student Match Day Committee, the event was the public part of a process overseen by the National Resident Matching Program, which uses an algorithm to pair students with residency programs according to preference lists developed by the students and the programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priya Garg, MD, associate dean of medical education, congratulated the class on being the first to fully experience a new team-based learning curriculum across their years of education and noted that class feedback reflected the great value they placed on working collaboratively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMedicine is about connections; it\u2019s about the people and support systems that keep you well; it\u2019s about the small moments with your patients and your soon-to-be fellow residents, your colleagues,\u201d said Garg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela Jackson, MD, associate dean of student affairs, counseled the class to be humble and kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know a lot. You will learn even more. Your skills will grow. But remember to stay humble and teachable,\u201d she said. \u201cListen to the nurses, to your peers, and to the medical students you will be working with and teaching, and not just to those who outrank you. Be kind always\u2026to everyone, but especially to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Student
Jeet Kothari (far right) with his family after he learned he\u2019d matched into a pediatric residency at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, University of Michigan Ann Arbor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The kindness, commitment, and care the doctors and other healthcare professionals demonstrated while tending to his sister, who has cerebral palsy, inspired Jeet Kothari to become a doctor. Kothari matched into a pediatric residency at C.S. Mott Children\u2019s Hospital, University of Michigan Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kothari\u2019s parents\u2014his father is a homebuilder and his mother a pulmonologist\u2014immigrated to the US from India. His mother\u2019s dedication to her profession and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic impressed on him the sense of purpose and sacrifice imbued in a medical career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following his second rigorous year in medical school, Kothari decided to take a year off and went home to Atlanta, where he did some research and worked as an Uber driver. He also reconnected with his sister\u2019s experience and her caregivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cIn that process, I rediscovered why I wanted to do medicine and ultimately pediatrics,\u201d he said. \u201cHer physicians saw her as a person\u2014a human and not the sum of her conditions\u2014and that made me want to be that type of pediatrician.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youssef Younossi is headed into the neurology resident program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Youssef Younossi (center) with classmates. He is headed into the neurology resident program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m over-the-moon happy,\u201d said Younossi, whose parents immigrated from Afghanistan. Growing up with several physicians in the family, Younossi was acquainted with the realities of a medical career but wanted to be sure it was right for him before committing to medical school. He\u2019d enjoyed finance as an undergraduate, but after three years at a private equity firm in Washington, D.C., the joy was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like I was making the impact I wanted to make,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, I turned back to medicine, because I knew that in medicine, you never question your purpose. There\u2019s a lot of tough aspects to it, but I think most people don\u2019t ask, \u2018What am I doing here?\u2019 and it\u2019s very clear what your impact will be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heather Miselis, MAMS\u201900, MPH\u201900, MD\u201904, associate dean of alumni affairs, told the assembled students that she and other alumni appreciate the importance and excitement of the day, citing \u201cthe mix of emotions, the thrill of discovering your match, the relief of knowing your hard work and commitment to the study of medicine have paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also remember the uncertainty that accompanies such a significant transition,\u201d she said. \u201cRemember that you are part of a network of engaged and supportive alumni who have walked this path and stand beside you, ready to encourage and guide you.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joshua Lepson was 15 and in the middle of swim practice at Brookline High School when he experienced the worst headache of his life. He\u2019d lost his sense of balance and orientation and had to be helped out of the pool. When he got home, his mother Johanna Klein, MD\u201994, a primary care physician, recognized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19603,"featured_media":142993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[383],"bu-publication":[366],"medicine-article-category":[],"medicine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[570],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/146514"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19603"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146514"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/146514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146517,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/146514\/revisions\/146517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146514"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=146514"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-article-category?post=146514"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-topic?post=146514"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=146514"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=146514"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=146514"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=146514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}