Apply Give

Other ways to search: Events Calendar | UTHSC

The Envelope Moment: 2026 Match Day Results

Written by Brianna Peck

|
Clinical CareEducation
For 169 fourth-year medical students at UT Health Sciences, Match Day is the day they have been working toward for years.

Fourth-year medical student Avery Dargie has always viewed medicine as something more than a job.

That grounding shapes her vision for the future. “It’s something that allows for this beautiful combination of science with teamwork, and this human connection that is so tangible.”

Last Friday morning for students like Dargie felt a little different across the University of Tennessee Health Sciences’ College of Medicine campuses. For 169 fourth-year medical students, it was the day they had been working toward for years. Match Day.

Every year on Match Day, medical students across the country open an envelope — all at the same moment, 11 a.m. CDT or noon EDT in Tennessee — to find out where they’ll train as resident physicians. It’s the culmination of four years of medical school, countless hours of clinical rotations, and the deeply personal process of figuring out who you want to become as a doctor. On Friday, March 20, the UT Health Sciences’ College of Medicine class of 2026 got their answer.

Braving the Tension

Kylie and Blake Mastalerz, now fourth-year medical students, met during orientation for the College of Medicine.

“There’s a lot of logistical things with medical school, like how are we going to make this happen? When are we going to make this happen?” Kylie said. “We ended up getting married during the fall of our M3 year. We took our shelf (test) on a Friday and got married the following Sunday. And we had lots of our medical school friends there.”

“You never know how the algorithm is going to work or where you’re going to end up,” Blake said of Match Day. “But regardless, we’re going to be excited, because our priority is to be together. UT has set us up for success, and this is just the next chapter we’ll tackle together.”

For fourth-year medical student Sean Acosta, the path to medicine started in nursing school. After initially enrolling in nursing, Acosta went on to pursue an MD degree. As Match Day approached, Acosta, who moved to Memphis from Colombia when he was 13, had one goal in mind: returning to the city that welcomed his family.

“Memphis has welcomed me and my family, after coming from another country, and they’ve been great to us,” he said. “The people, the community, I love it here. I want to stay here for residency. My family’s here, my wife’s family’s here. We want to have kids and raise them here in Memphis. That is the goal.”

Medical student Sean Acosta and his wife were thrilled he matched at UT Health Sciences in Memphis for psychiatry.

Of the 169 total students who matched:

  • 25 different specialties were matched. 
  • 71 students (42%) matched to residencies in Tennessee.
  • 59 students (35%) are staying at UT Health Sciences for residency.
    • 5 will be in Chattanooga
    • 3 will be in Jackson
    • 14 will be in Knoxville
    • 30 will be in Memphis
    • 7 will be in Nashville
  • 75 students (44%) matched to primary care specialties.
  • 44 students (26%) matched to non-primary care specialties.
  • 48 students (28%) matched to surgical specialties.
  • 4 students matched to military residency.
  • 2 students matched to research.

“Match Day is one of the most meaningful mornings in medical education,” said Michael Hocker, MD, executive dean of the College of Medicine. “It’s the moment years of hard work finally become real. We are proud to see so many of them carrying the UT Health Sciences mission forward, and we can’t wait to see the care and compassion they’ve developed here shared with patients across the state and beyond.

“Our mission matters because Tennessee needs these doctors. From the rural communities where a physician can be the only one for miles, to the busy urban hospitals serving thousands, every new College of Medicine match is a community gaining a caregiver who is trained and committed. UT Health Sciences was built to serve this state, and with every graduating class, that promise is renewed.”

Whatever envelope they opened and wherever it sends them, the College of Medicine class of 2026 is ready. Congratulations, doctors.

View the slideshow below for more sights from Match Day 2026 in Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.

  • A Black man in African clothing and two Black women in brightly colored and bold print clothing pose for a photo. The man is holding his "I Matched!" sign that reads "at Vanderbilt in Emergency Medicine."
  • A young Asian female student poses with an older white woman in front of a set table and some others as well as a wall of windows, in Knoxville. Her "I Matched!" sign reads "at UT – Knoxville in Internal Medicine."
  • A group of people of color are posed around their student near a table, him holding his "I Matched!" sign that reads "at UT St. Thomas - Nash in Internal Medicine."
  • A young woman student in a yellow dress pins where she's going to a board showing the state of Tennessee.
  • A man writes on a sign, using a student's back while that student smiles.
  • In Knoxville, a student poses with an older woman in front of orange balloons. She has her tongue out while she smiles and is making an "I love you" symbol with her fingers. She has a UTHSC pin on her lapel. His "I Matched!" sign reads "at UT – Nashville in General Surgery."
  • A man holds a cell phone out and up to take a photo of the moment, with a young man holding his "I Matched!" sign alongside family and friends smiling broadly and laughing.
  • Dean Michael Hocker speaks at a podium with a sign on it that says Memphis Botanic Garden. A pillar of balloons is behind him with a large, green ballon on top that says UTHSC Medicine in orange.
  • Two women embrace, one holding a paper against the other's back, while two other people shake hands in the foreground.
  • A student in a plaid shirt is holding a cell phone to his ear to discuss the news. Open glass doors are in the background with people inside and outside.
  • Two medical students, Avery Dargie and her fiancé, pose with Dr. Catherine Womac and Dargie's parents.
  • A female student in a red dress and male student in a blue-checked blazer hold up their Match Day letterhead letters. A woman in the background wipes a tear.
  • A young woman expresses excitement and tears, celebrating with a young man who's also expressing surprise and excitement with her, while other students embrace loved ones around them.
  • A student poses for a cell phone shot with his unopened envelope, smiling big.
  • A student and her parents pose for a photo.
  • A group of four ladies in dresses pose for a photo, two holding bouquets of flowers.
  • A group of five loved ones pose for a photo, the two parents wearing UTHSC College of Medicine parent T-shirts.
  • A group of young men and women pose for a photo outside on a patio, holding their "I Matched!" signs. Their details include UT Knoxville in Anesthesiology!, UT Chattanooga in Pediatrics!, USF Morsani COM - Tampa in Family Medicine, Louisville SOM-KY in General Surgery, Baptist Health Birmingham in Radiology.
  • A tall student with his loved ones, holding his "I Matched!" sign that reads "at UTHSC - Campbell Clinic in Orthopoedic Surgery."
  • A student pins his location to the Tennessee state board, his match sign reading Vanderbilt and General Surgery.
  • A woman with a bouquet of flowers and plate of fruit talks candidly to another woman who's smiling big.
  • Two ladies in dresses pose for a photo.
  • Medical student Ben Finder embraces a young woman in a flowered dress. She has a medical device on her arm.
  • A group of young men and women dressed up and some holding envelopes pose inside in front of orange and white balloons on Match Day in Knoxville.
  • A group of four young women and two young men pose inside in front of a few paintings on Match Day in Chattanooga.
  • A group of young women in dresses pose for a photo outside on a patio with shrubs and trees behind them, holding their "I Matched!" signs. Their details include Saint Louis University in OB/GYN, University of Utah in Dermatology, UTHSC Memphis in Pediatrics, NCC A.T. Augusta Military MC in Family Medicine.
  • A student with his relatives outdoors, holding his "I Matched!" sign that reads "at UTHSC - Memphis in Emergency Medicine! GO TIGERS!"
  • Medical student Ben Finder in a suit with a UTHSC pin and a young woman in a flowered dress pose for a photo indoors. She has a medical device on her arm.
  • A close-up of a Black male student smiling big and being hugged tightly by a Black woman.