MOULTRIE, Ga. — PCOM South Georgia celebrated its first-ever Match Day as members of its first graduating class of physicians learned which residency programs they matched with and in which specialty they will spend their next three to five years.

According to Tina Woodruff, EdD, PCOM’s senior advisor to the provost, Match Day is a culmination of many months of work on the part of students and residency program directors.

A student’s matched residency program is selected through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) placement system for the approximately 39,000 funded residency positions in the United States, according to a press release.

PCOM South Georgia had about 30 students and their family members participate in the Match Day celebration.

Christian Edwards of Moultrie learned Friday that he matched with the Georgia South Residency Program at Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

“Today is a long time coming,” he said in response to how he felt about his match. His goal is to stay and practice family medicine in Moultrie so he can take care of the people he grew up with.

“From the very beginning, PCOM was very welcoming to us and did a lot to provide for us and make us comfortable in transitioning to a different situation. They gave me an opportunity to go to medical school in my hometown and I appreciate that,” Edwards said.

He graduated from Colquitt County High School in 2010. He has a wife and three boys with one baby on the way and looks forward to raising them in his hometown community.

“This is exciting for me because I get to learn and grow with doctors that I grew up being treated by and trusted,” he said.

Allison Tresner and Woody Gramling will join Edwards at the Georgia South Residency Program. Tresner will specialize in family medicine and Gramling will specialize in psychiatry.

Xavia Taylor matched with Archbold Medical Center in Thomasville where she will be specializing in internal medicine for gastroenterology. She is also a Moultrie native but graduated from Thomas County Central High School in 2014.

“It’s been a good and challenging four years here at PCOM South Georgia. It’s been a home away from home and although the faculty has changed a little since I’ve started it’s been great,” Taylor said.

Faculty and family members filled the celebration room waiting to hear their student’s achievements. PCOM South Georgia Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology Director Ed Shaw, PhD, taught most of the matching students in his basic science’s course.

“It’s wonderful to be a part of the founding faculty and to see these students get matched with a residency program,” he said.

Students who did not match can participate in the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP). Students work with their school’s advisors who will receive information about unfilled residency spots. The process allows the unmatched students to apply directly to the programs they are interested in, interview either in person or online and match to their program of choice.

To learn more about PCOM South Georgia please visit www.pcom.edu/south-georgia.