Jonesboro, AR – Contributed – New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University (NYITCOM at A-State) enjoyed a 95 percent match rate and a 97 percent placement rate through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), the Jonesboro-based medical school announced Friday.
“Match Day is our favorite day of the year because it’s the culmination of a tremendous amount of work by our students, faculty and staff,” said Shane Speights, D.O., dean of NYITCOM at A-State. “This is the day our students dream of when they’re accepted to medical school, and it’s such a joy to watch them celebrate with their family and friends as they learn where they match. We are all extremely happy for each of them and proud of them.”
Medical schools across the country celebrated Match Day Friday, an annual event through which soon-to-be medical school graduates learn where they’ll perform their post-graduate specialty training, known as residency.
The Class of 2026 is the seventh class for NYITCOM’s Arkansas campus, which opened in 2016 through a private-public partnership with Arkansas State University. In total, 96 NYITCOM at A-State student doctors participated in Match, with an initial Match rate of 95 percent and a total placement rate of 97 percent.
NYITCOM at A-State was established to train medical students to help address a growing physician shortage in Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta region. As has been the case with each of its first six classes, more than half of NYITCOM at A-State’s 2026 match participants were placed into programs that will keep them in Arkansas, a targeted Delta state, or a state contiguous to Arkansas.
The school also encourages students to pursue primary care specialties due to the significant needs in those areas in Arkansas and the Delta. This year, 57 percent of NYITCOM at A-State students matched into primary care positions, including 25 percent in family medicine, 20 percent in internal medicine, eight percent in general surgery, and four percent in pediatrics.
Additionally, NYITCOM at A-State’s Class of 2026 saw a number of its students match into highly competitive specialties such as anesthesiology, diagnostic radiology, physical medicine & rehabilitation, and orthopedic surgery.
“Across the board, we continue to deliver on our mission of training the types of physicians we need, and that just thrills me,” Speights said. “Our family medicine numbers are among the tops in the country, and that’s something we take a great deal of pride in because we know the kind of impact family physicians can have on communities like those throughout our region.”
Among NYITCOM students, 17 matched in Arkansas and an additional nine will remain within 100 miles of the state border. Six students will perform their residencies in Jonesboro. Those six include three Jonesboro natives: Cecliy Long and Jackson St. Pierre at St. Bernards Medical Center and Jake Smith at UAMS Northeast.
“My family and I love this community so much, and to get to continue my training here is a dream come true,” St. Pierre said. “I’m so grateful to NYITCOM, to A-State, and now to St. Bernards for allowing me to chase my dreams in a city that means so much to me.”
Friday morning, NYITCOM at A-State students gathered with their families and NYITCOM at A-State faculty and staff at the Red Wolf Convention Center at Embassy Suites for a celebration event. The students were given envelopes with their Match placement and collectively opened them at 11 a.m.
Upon the completion of medical school, physicians must complete residency to obtain their license to practice medicine in the United States. Residencies typically last three to seven years, depending on the specialty. During their final year of medical school, student doctors apply and interview for residencies. Once they’ve completed their interviews, the student doctors rank their preferred programs, and the programs rank their preferred candidates they’ve interviewed.
The NRMP then uses an algorithm to “match” candidates with programs based on rankings. On Friday, student doctors around the country found out where they’ve matched and where they subsequently will be performing their residencies, which typically start in the first week of July.
The NYITCOM at A-State Class of 2026 will celebrate its commencement and hooding ceremony on May 22 at First National Bank Arena.