Deans dress up as ancient Greeks to celebrate the Olympic-themed virtual Match with students joining via Zoom.
Match Day is one of the most important milestones on a medical student’s journey. At Loma Linda University, such a momentous occasion calls for a festive atmosphere. Students form a committee and spend months planning a theme, decorations, photo booths, games, and other activities to make the day memorable.
In the past, hundreds of students and family members would cram into the Wong Kerlee International Conference Center, creating a standing-room-only crowd where anticipation and excitement were amplified by a positive “mob mentality” that would build to a palpable climax as the students opened their Match letters.
This year, the students spent months planning the festivities, but with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the states, the School of Medicine had no choice but to change Match Day to a virtual event.
Wanting to honor the hard work put into the event by class of 2020 president Mary Meyer (’20) and her team, the deans decorated Wong Kerlee in an Olympic theme and even dressed as ancient Greeks. Students joined the event via Zoom videoconferencing, and they got a kick out of seeing their deans wrapped in tablecloths and wearing leafy headbands.
Kevin A. Codorniz ’05, associate dean of clinical education, said, “Match Day is a day of celebrating all the hard work our medical students have put in for the past four years. This year’s Match Day was unlike any other in the past. That didn’t mean we were not able to celebrate together.”
