Every single graduating medical student from Marshall University's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine has been placed in a residency program. University officials said Friday that's the first time ever 100 percent of the class has matched.

The National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) pairs graduating seniors with graduate medical programs across the country where they will train for the next three to five years.

"For the first time in the history of the School of Medicine, 100 percent of our students have matched in their chosen medical specialties, exceeding the average of 95 percent that we've had for the last five years," said Dr. Marie Veitia, associate dean, student affairs.

In all, 64 seniors learned their residency placements at noon Friday when they and their counterparts nationwide opened envelopes containing their residency decisions.

A little more than 67 percent of graduating seniors will enter fields defined as primary care in West Virginia - family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, internal medicine/pediatrics, and pediatrics - continuing Marshall's mission of educating physicians for the nation's rural areas. Additionally, about one-third of the class will remain in West Virginia, according to a news release from Marshall University. Of those, 17 will train at Marshall.

"We are delighted that a significant number elected to remain at Marshall while others matched in primary care and highly competitive fields of medicine such as emergency medicine, radiology, and anesthesiology at schools across the country," Veitia said. "Marshall students matched at programs at Duke, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth, Emory and three outstanding programs in California."

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Marshall University medical school reaches 100 percent milestone