Local medical student Eva Munshower says she is “so happy” to learn that she will spend her next five years training as a new doctor in a general surgery residency at St. Luke’s University Health Network.

The Schnecksville native got the news recently when she opened an envelope at her Match Day ceremony.

Match Day is a national rite of passage for fourth-year medical school students moving onto residency programs. A complex algorithm matches the students’ top choice of residencies with the programs’ top choice of students.

Postgraduate medical education can last three to eight years, including residency and fellowship.

Making this year’s Match Day extra special, the Katz School of Medicine celebrated Match Day on both its North Philadelphia Campus and in Bethlehem. At precisely noon, students from the St. Luke’s campus simultaneously opened the envelopes containing the letters identifying their residency programs.

Munshower is following in the footsteps of her father, Thomas Munshower, D.O., a family medicine physician with St. Luke’s University Health Network. Dr. Munshower attended Match Day with his daughter and the rest of their family at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.

Eva Munshower was one of 10 in her class to match to residencies at St. Luke’s.

“The most meaningful part of this day was that our students learned of their futures right here in the community that supported them from day one,” Shaden Eldakar-Hein, M.D., senior associate dean and professor at Lewis Katz School of Medicine, St. Luke’s Campus, said.

“Every student means so much to us, and when they opened their envelopes, we were so incredibly happy and proud of them.”

Munshower will graduate in May and fell in love with general surgery when, while a student at Allentown Central Catholic High School, she was invited to watch an operation in the OR of Sacred Heart Hospital.

The Lewis Katz School of Medicine, St. Luke’s campus in Fountain Hill is the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school.

Hellertown resident Kate Arner’s envelope revealed she matched into a St. Luke’s four-year neurology residency, a dream come true. Her love of medical science dates back to seventh grade and the influence of a science teacher who included anatomy and physiology lessons.

Arner, who majored in neuroscience and pre-med at Moravian University, is excited to be staying in the Lehigh Valley as a neurologist to serve the community she grew up in and to be surrounded by her family and friends.

“I’m excited to be on this life-enriching journey at St. Luke’s where I have learned so much over these past four years,” Arner said. Arner’s family – including her 96-year-old grandmother – attended Match Day. “When I opened my envelope, my grandmother cried.”

Added Dr. Eldakar-Hein, “Any hospital and residency program will be fortunate to welcome one of our graduates. Each member of our 2024 class has demonstrated repeatedly that they will make skilled, thoughtful and compassionate physicians.”

Munshower’s professional role model has always been her dad and she is sure of her passion as she continues on her chosen path.

“Medicine is my calling; it’s how I want to give back to the community where I grew up,” Munshower said.

“It’s what I’ve always dreamed of doing and it will be a gift to practice here at St. Luke’s like my father.”