On March 15, 2024, the Department of Psychiatry expects to add five residents to its training program.
Match Day, when medical school graduates find out where they will continue their training as residents, takes place on the third Friday in March. It’s not only a big day for the new doctors, but is also a huge day for program directors like Daniel Gih, MD. This month, Dr. Gih, will go through his fifth Match Day as the UNMC Department of Psychiatry Residency Program Director.
Dr. Gih said the department continuously refines how they recruit, and his team consistently updates its message to applicants to make sure the potential residents see the priorities and direction of the program. While Dr. Gih is the program director, it takes a large team to rank the potential new employees. Associate Program Director of the Residency Program Jeana Benton, MD, and Ellie Corbaley, Psychiatry Residency Program Coordinator, have been with Dr. Gih since the program’s first Match Day in 2020. Dr. Gih said several faculty members have for the past few years volunteered to interview applicants. With a strong team, Dr. Gih is very confident going into Match Day 2024.
“Historically, we have done very well on our match list. Often getting candidates from the top half of our list, which is a very good sign that we are recruiting well the candidates we want to obtain,” Dr. Gih said. “We have good national visibility, so we are getting applicants from all over the country to apply.”
In 2020, four doctors matched in the inaugural UNMC Department of Psychiatry Residency Program – Matthew Kelly, MD; Andi Ngo, MD; Emily Royer, MD and Michaelyn Everhart, MD. The class welcomed Dr. Zachary Rupp a year later. Dr. Everhart (University of Colorado) and Dr. Rupp (University of Cincinnati) started Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowships last summer. Drs. Kelly, Ngo, and Royer will graduate in May. With the upcoming graduations and former residents moving into desired fellowships, Dr. Gih sees a residency Program on the rise.
“Starting this year after our first graduation we should be considered an established program because we will have graduated our first residents,” he said. “We will know in the very near future where all of them will have been placed which can be an important factor for potential residents. They like to know where previous residents went after graduation.”
After the five new residents match this month, the program total will rise to 19 – a huge jump from the four just a few years ago. The number will rise even higher in 2025 when the department welcomes a program-record six residents.
“Match Day is always an exciting time for us, and we are always slightly anxious of what will come, but we continue to get good residents who seem to add to our community here,” Dr. Gih said.