The tension at the Statehouse Convention Center was palpable just before 11 a.m. March 21, 2025 as 160 senior medical students from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) sat waiting at large round tables to open the sealed envelopes they had just been handed.
As the countdown clock on a large screen at the front of the hall ticked down to zero, the students unanimously ripped open the envelopes and peeked inside. Some released shrieks and cheers, some thrust their fists above their heads and others jumped up to hug family and friends beside them.
And just like that, after four arduous years of medical school and weeks of applications and interviews, the long-awaited question of where each student in the UAMS College of Medicine Class of 2025 will complete their next three to seven years of training was answered…