White envelope in hand, Brenda Godoy dashed through a crowd of medical students and their families, trying to reach her own before the countdown ended.
She reached her gathered family before opening the envelope with shaky hands and unfolding the paper inside.
A smile erupted on her face. She was matched with her first-choice residency program.
Godoy was one of thousands of medical students nationwide taking part in the largest-ever Match Day, the annual ceremony in which medical students learn where they will spend their first years as doctors, according to the National Resident Matching Program. Medical students from UNT Health Fort Worth and Texas Christian University participated in ceremonies across Cowtown on Friday morning.
Stuart D. Flynn, dean of the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU, described Match Day as the culmination of a process that began months earlier.
Students applied to programs in their chosen specialty, earned interview invitations and then ranked their top choices. Programs ranked their candidates. A computer makes the final call.
“While students already know going in that they have a position secured, the location remains a mystery until 11 a.m., when envelopes open simultaneously across the country,” he said.
Envelopes containing student matches await opening during Texas Christian University’s Match Day on March 20, 2026, in Fort Worth. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
At TCU’s music festival-themed celebration, held at the 4Eleven, Flynn said he is proud that every student has matched into a residency program since the school’s inception in 2019.
“For a new school, that’s just impressive, and I don’t take it for granted,” he said. “Next year, it’ll be the same anxiety for that graduating class.”
Inside the venue, activities were in full swing — stilt walkers, a live band, faculty dressed as their favorite rock stars. When the countdown hit zero, Adebanke Adeyemi was already dancing for joy.
Adeyemi matched into her first choice: internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
“I’m just really grateful and happy that the work I put in, seeing this result is really exciting,” she said.
Originally from Nigeria, Adeyemi said her journey through medical school required leaning on the community she built in Fort Worth.
“Not having family nearby can be a little challenging,” Adeyemi said. “Because they would be here today with me.”
Students wait for their matches during Texas Christian University’s Match Day on March 20, 2026, in Fort Worth. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
Moriah Carlson, fourth-year medical student, hugs her boyfriend, Joe Carlson, after matching to Baylor University Medical Center Dallas during Texas Christian University’s Match Day on March 20, 2026, in Fort Worth. “I’ve made a community here with my classmates and found my husband here,” she said. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
For Amanda Block and Andrew Goh, the stakes were doubled. The couple, who met across a table in a small group session during their first year at TCU, structured rank lists knowing that matching in the bottom half could mean the two living apart.
“Our rank list was about half where we would be together, and then the bottom half was where we wouldn’t be at the same location,” Block said.
They both matched at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“Our main goal coming into this was just to be together,” Goh said. “We can make it through residency as long as we have each other.”
Brenda Godoy, 28, holds up her match paper for a photo surrounded by family on March 20, 2026, at Dickie’s Arena. (McKinnon Rice | Fort Worth Report)
Staying near family was also the hope of Godoy at UNT Health’s ceremony at Dickie’s Arena.
She was excited to match with family medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, about an hour and a half from her hometown of Mount Pleasant.
Although Godoy knew from a young age she wanted to work in health care, she did not always know she wanted to be a physician. But after witnessing firsthand how barriers to health care impacted her father, she decided to pursue medical school.
She will take experiences from her time as a community health worker at Titus Regional Medical Center with her into her first years as a doctor. The findings from the focus groups she held helped drive the opening of Spanish-speaking clinics.
“I want to hear my community — and not just hear them, but also apply their recommendations they may have to improve things,” she said. “When you walk into a clinic or a hospital, the most important person is always the patient.”
Godoy’s happiness over heading to a residency close to home is a sentiment shared by her family. Her mom, Esperanza Godoy, tearfully expressed pride in her daughter’s accomplishments. She is glad Brenda will be helping others as doctors helped Esperanza before, she said.
“She has a good heart,” Esperanza said in Spanish. “She is going to help the people who need it, too.”
Brenda Godoy embraces her family members after opening her match envelope on March 20, 2026. (McKinnon Rice | Fort Worth Report)
McKinnon Rice is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
Nicole Williams Quezada is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.williams@fortworthreport.org.
The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
The Report’s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth, Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Science Center. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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