Medical students hold their next steps in the palm of their hands on Match Day 2026

With her dad and brother by her side, Nadia Ahmedin read the words she’d been longing to see: “Congratulations, you have matched!” Her residency will be at WashU Medicine/Barnes-Jewish Hospital, her first choice.

Ahmedin’s tour of the Medical Campus as an undergrad exposed her to the welcoming culture of WashU Medicine and solidified her desire to pursue a medical degree here. Then, the St. Louis community she became part of made her want to stay. Through her involvement with tornado relief efforts and mentoring of local teens, the Atlanta native cultivated lasting roots in the Midwest. She will begin her internal medicine residency in July.

“I’m beyond thrilled to match in St. Louis,” Ahmedin said. “I also hope that the dreams of all my fellow classmates I have grown to love over the past four years came true. I think that’s what makes WashU Medicine such a great place. When we succeed, the whole community succeeds.”

Carol Green / WashU Medicine

Nadia Ahmedin, an MD student at WashU Medicine, will pursue her medical residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

On March 20, WashU Medicine MD students were joined by loved ones and mentors during Match Day 2026, a national event in which medical students learn the training program where they will complete their residency after graduation.

“It’s hard to put into words the pride I feel, knowing how hard our students have worked to earn placements at some of the nation’s most prestigious institutions,” said Kathryn M. Diemer, MD, WashU Medicine’s assistant dean for career advising and a professor of medicine who has overseen Match Day for 26 years. “That so many of them achieve exceptional matches is a testament to their dedication, excellent performance in our rigorous training, and the meaningful relationships our faculty cultivates with them.”

As students came up on stage to announce where they matched, applause, tears and shouts of joy rang out across the auditorium of the Eric P. Newman Education Center on the Medical Campus. Cardboard cutouts, pompoms and student-chosen walk-up songs, including “Opalite” by Taylor Swift and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” added to the momentous occasion.

Veronica Jones / WashU Medicine

In all, WashU Medicine students matched to 61 hospitals across 26 states. Top matches by specialty included surgery and surgical subspecialties, internal medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics and emergency medicine. Click the map to enlarge.

Many students chose to open their results in advance of the ceremony. Others, like Dani Wilder, opted for a “blind reveal,” where they learned their fate on stage.

Carol Green / WashU Medicine

Dani Wilder, an MD student at WashU Medicine, will pursue her medical residency at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

“Match Day feels like a milestone and a transition,” Wilder said. “I look forward to connecting with patients and helping solve the wide range of medical complexities you see in emergency medicine. The idea of being a leader in this space is so exciting, and I can’t wait to step into the physician role more fully.”

While earning her MD, Wilder co-founded nCase Technologies. After losing a friend to an opioid overdose, she and her fiancé designed and produced a small, insulated carrying case that holds naloxone nasal spray for rapid recovery. Linda Wu, DO, an assistant professor of pediatrics and Innovation Pathway Lead, provided guidance and a listening ear to help Wilder juggle the entrepreneurial journey with medical school studies. Wilder matched at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she will pursue a specialty in emergency medicine and continue to help save lives through nCase.

“I am blown away by the academic excellence, clinical prowess and leadership of our Class of 2026 MD students,” said Eva Aagaard, MD, the Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Professor of Medical Education, vice dean for education and vice chancellor for medical education. “It’s no surprise to me that they will go on to their next stage of training at some of the best institutions both here and around the country. I know this is only the beginning of the significant contributions they will make as clinicians, researchers, educators and innovators.”

Other classmates had a longer route to Match Day. James Shepherdson and Kim Johansson have been earning their MD and PhD degrees as part of the Roy Vagelos Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). Since arriving at WashU Medicine in 2017, the couple met, married and had their first baby, Alice, who accompanied them during their Match Day celebrations. They were thrilled to learn they are both headed to California where they “couples matched” in internal medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto. Johansson plans to sub-specialize in hematology/oncology, while Shepherdson plans to pursue fellowship training in gastroenterology.

“We both independently chose WashU Medicine because research is top of mind here,” Shepherdson said. “From the administration to curricular planning, we have found such a strong medical research community that prepared us for this moment. Both of us trying to match at an academic hospital where we could pursue our niche interests was challenging. We were grateful to receive so much support throughout the process.”

Carol Green / WashU Medicine

Kim Johansson and James Shepherdson announce their couples match to Stanford University with their daughter, Alice.

Out of the myriad volunteer activities they had outside of studies, they both derived a great deal of satisfaction from mentoring others. Shepherdson participated in the McDonnell Genome Institute’s Opportunities in Genomics Research program and mentored undergraduates from universities that do not have the extensive scientific research opportunities that WashU Medicine offers.

“I know the program is intended to help the undergrad students, but it was definitely a formative experience for me, too,” Shepherdson said.

Meanwhile, Johansson mentored several first-year medical students, helping them navigate some of their first supervised patient encounters at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “I’ve had fun helping them facilitate the patient interview process and watching them gain confidence along the way,” Johannson said. “It also gave me perspective as I reflect on how I felt back in 2017 when I was in their shoes. I will soon be the newbie once again, but this time I have the hindsight to know that I’m ready!”

Match Day Highlights

• Of the 134 students, representing 98.5% of WashU Medicine MD students who matched this year, 36 will begin their training at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and five at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
• Students also matched at other prestigious programs across the country, including hospitals affiliated with Harvard; hospitals affiliated with Stanford University; University of California, San Francisco; Yale New Haven Hospital; Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.; Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University in Chicago; Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore; Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University; University of Chicago Medical Center; NYU Langone; Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville; UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York; University of Washington Hospitals; UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora; University Hospital in Ann Arbor, affiliated with University of Michigan Health; and several others.
• Besides Missouri, the states where the greatest number of WashU Medicine students will train include California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Tennessee. Altogether, this year’s class will be represented at 61 hospitals across 26 states.
• With 32 placements, surgery and surgical subspecialties were the most popular. Of those, general surgery led with 10, followed by ophthalmology with seven, orthopedic surgery with six, neurological surgery with five, urology with two, and otolaryngology and plastic surgery with one.
• The next most popular specialties were internal medicine with 26 students, psychiatry with 13 matches, pediatrics with 12 matches and emergency medicine with 10 matches.
• Overall, the National Resident Matching Program recorded 48,050 applicants registered and 44,344 positions offered. The National Resident Matching Program pairs the preferences of graduating medical students with those of residency program directors using ranked lists provided by each party and generating matches using a computerized mathematical algorithm.

Photos by Carol Green. Click to enlarge.