Match Day – the day when students learn where they will begin their residency programs – is one of the most exciting days in a young doctor's education. This year's event was no different and offered many cheers, and a few tears, as the fourth-year students learned where their careers will take them next.

Of the 266 Drexel University College of Medicine graduating students, 54 chose internal medicine. Rounding out the top five specialties were pediatrics (28); obstetrics & gynecology (21); emergency medicine (20); and tied for fifth place with 17 students apiece were anesthesiology, radiology and family medicine.

At the traditional event - celebrated on the same day at medical schools across the country - students simultaneously open sealed envelopes containing the name and location of their residency training. Drexel's Match Day was held at the Queen Lane Campus and began with a champagne toast delivered by Dean Daniel V. Schidlow, MD. As the students tore open their envelopes, screams of excitement and tears followed, as proud family members and friends snapped photos.

According to data released by the National Resident Matching Program, U.S. medical school seniors made up 16,390 of the 25,463 applicants who successfully matched to first-year residency positions. The number of U.S. students choosing primary care—internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics—rose by almost 400 over 2012.