ACOI Student Members Celebrate a Record-Breaking Match Day 2026

Friday, March 20, 2026, was more than just a memorable Match Day—it was a notable, record-breaking one for DOs. The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP) reported that a record number of DOs secured residency positions through this year's Match.

According to the official NRMP data, a total of 7,928 DO senior medical students and 318 graduates matched, ultimately a 93.2% match rate for the 8,503 DO seniors and graduates who participated. That is nearly a 1% increase from last year. In addition, 410 graduates of osteopathic medical schools secured positions. All of this is another step building upon the historic outcomes of 2023, 2024, and 2025 for DOs, affirming the burgeoning and consistent demand for osteopathic physicians across all specialties.

ACOI spoke with a few student members during Match Week about their feelings on reaching this phase, their commitment to internal medicine, and their plans to celebrate their accomplishments. On Match Day, they shared the news about where they had matched and their thoughts on the exciting next steps ahead.

Aliyah Stephens, OMS-IV at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – Middletown, is the Vice President of SOIMA, and she matched at Inspira Health in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, for internal medicine. Originally from New Jersey, Student Doctor Stephens was eager to return to her home state and is thrilled to have the chance to do so now.

During Match Week, Student Doctor Stephens shared regarding reaching the end of medical school, “This is the best feeling in the world! It feels like a dream. I feel like someone’s going to tell me, ‘Gotcha!’ It’s been a challenging, transformative experience. I’m a different person now than I was four years ago, and better for it. Medical school has been really rewarding thus far, and I’m excited for the next chapter.”

That next chapter will allow Student Doctor Stephens to really embrace internal medicine, which she chose after an especially team-oriented and intellectually rigorous rotation. “Initially, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she said. “I'm a first-generation doctor and didn’t have much influence in that area. On my internal medicine rotation, during the morning rounds, we’d meet together as a team—third-year residents, interns, the Chief Resident...that was the most team-oriented environment I could find.” As a former college basketball player at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, that was a familiar and important dynamic to have. So was getting to do extensive research as part of her role. “Overall,” said Student Doctor Stephens, “It was the best of medicine for me—the best combination of teamwork and evidence-based medicine,” she said.

For Match Day itself, she spent it at home in New Jersey with her family—the people who, she said, “helped me get here, who answered my phone calls at 1 AM when I was absolutely exhausted.” As far as her feelings about what's next, on Match Day, she shared, “I am incredibly excited and grateful for this opportunity. Matching there feels like the perfect next step in my journey, and I am eager to begin training and continue growing in such an amazing program surrounded by even better people. This moment is very meaningful to me, and I feel especially fortunate to be starting my career back at home, serving patients within my own community.”

Maiah Fogel, OMS-IV at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) College of Osteopathic Medicine, matched at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital in Philadelphia.

During Match Week, when asked about the end of medical school, Student Doctor Fogel said, “It feels crazy to have almost finished medical school! Right now, it feels very slow waiting for our Match results and getting ready for the next step, but I felt like clinical rotations went by in the blink of an eye. I feel like so many of us work so hard to get to medical school, and then to get to residency, that we forget to stop and look at how far we have come. Coming up on Match Day and graduation, I cannot believe it's almost over. I feel really grateful to have gotten this far in my medical education and am super excited for the next step!”

In preparation for that next step, Student Doctor Fogel’s plans included having family fly in from Colorado and Arizona to support her and join her for the NSU ceremony on Match Day. “There are a lot of nerves around the day, so I am very grateful they are able to be here with me,” she said.

As far as why she chose internal medicine, Student Doctor Fogel shared, “I think internal medicine is the most interesting specialty there is. It took me a little while to make up my mind, but after I completed my inpatient internal medicine rotations, I knew it was the specialty for me. Internal medicine encompasses basically all of medicine; we get to take care of all different kinds of complaints and being able to piece together a patient’s history to figure out what’s going on with them now is very exciting to me. There’s also such a wide variety of future career options, whether it's primary care, hospitalist, fellowships, or research."

On Match Day, after getting into her top program, Student Doctor Fogel said she was feeling both excited and nervous about what was next. “I know I’m going to receive some great training there,” she said, “and can’t wait to start. I did an audition rotation there and was blown away by the knowledge all the residents seemed to have and really looked up to them, so I know I'll be joining a great group of people. I'll miss Florida, and all the amazing friends I've made during medical school here, but I know we'll all still keep in touch and support each other throughout our different residency programs. So all in all, I'm very excited to move to Philly and start this next phase in my medical training!”

Future residents! Please take a moment to let us know where you matched. ACOI membership is free through training.