Students from Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University experienced “Match Day” on March 21, the day medical students across the nation find out where they are headed for residency. Match Day signifies the culmination of medical school training and the start of clinical training as a resident.
This Match Day, hundreds of CWRU School of Medicine students, including the graduating class from the Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM), along with family members and faculty, gathered at the Health Education Campus where, at noon sharp, the students opened their envelopes containing their match information.
Julia Joo, who will train in ophthalmology, matched to Cleveland Clinic. “The Cole Eye Institute sees an enormous volume of patients per day, and I'm sure that number will grow with the expansion of the beautiful new building. I'm grateful for the opportunity to train at a world-class institution from attendings I truly admire,” she says. “A bonus is that I get to train at the same hospital as my partner, also a CCLCM alum, who is an internal medicine resident!”
The top residency program chosen by our students this year is internal medicine. Of the program’s 32 graduating students, eight are staying at Cleveland Clinic for their residencies. Of the 202 total Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine students who matched (which include those from CCLCM, the University Program and Medical Scientist Training Program), 17 (8%) are coming to Cleveland Clinic for training.
Saswat Sahoo is headed to Johns Hopkins to train in neurology. “It's a dream come true, and I owe it all to the support of my family, mentors and CCLCM as a whole. I look forward to growing as a clinician and serving the Baltimore community. My research year was at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, and I'm excited to head back!” he says.
The Lerner College of Medicine graduating class will be honored by their families, faculty, staff and fellow students in a celebration at the InterContinental Hotel on Saturday, May 17. The students will formally graduate on Sunday, May 18, from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, at which time they will receive their degree that reads “Medical Doctor with Special Qualifications in Biomedical Research.”
Of the 2025 graduates:
Cumulatively, 54% of our students (n=534) have matched at hospitals historically ranked in the top 10 according to U.S. News & World Report (2009-23), Newsweek and Statista (2024 and 2025).
In addition, we celebrate the 33 graduates from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine who will train at Cleveland Clinic. Twenty-five of the students matched to Cleveland Clinic. Eight additional students, who are part of the Heritage Transformative Care Continuum program and have trained at Cleveland Clinic as part of their educational experience, automatically stay at Cleveland Clinic through residency, with four training at Lakewood Family Health Center and four training at Akron General Hospital.
In 2015, Cleveland Clinic and Heritage College established a Cleveland campus at South Pointe Hospital to train primary care physicians who will stay in Ohio following graduation.
Photo credit: Annie O'Neill, Lisa DeJong