A masked man, clad in a black costume with a yellow “”M”” emblazoned across his chest, leapt onto the stage of the DuVal Auditorium at the University Medical Center.

His mission: To thwart the evil Dr. Doom in her attempts to ruin Match Day 2010. Using his secret weapon — a can of Silly String — the hero, known as Match Man, defeated Dr. Doom, saving UA medical students from a terrible fate.

This was the scene March 18 at Match Day 2010. Match Day, part of the larger National Residency Matching Program, is an annual event that lets medical students from all over the nation know where they will serve their residency period. 

This year’s Match Day theme was “”Not All Heroes Wear Capes,”” a theme most UA medical students took to heart by wearing a variety of costumes, including Zorro, Batman, Batwoman, Superman, Superwoman and all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Fourth-year medical students Todd C. Daniello and Beth Ranney also joined in the fun, playing Match Man and Dr. Doom, respectively.   

“”This was truly a great atmosphere to be in,”” said Lee Jones, the associate dean for student affairs and admissions in the UA College of Medicine. “”Not many places have themes like the UA does, and certainly not many places embrace the theme like students here do.””

For medical students, Match Day represents the end of official university education and the beginning of their medical careers after a long process of applying, interviewing, waiting and wishing.

“”I’m just so excited,”” said Ranney, who was assigned to Maricopa Medical Center. “”This begins a whole new part of my life and I couldn’t be more happy.””

Approximately 110 UA medical students were matched on Thursday. The majority of them will be doing their residency in Arizona.

UA Match Day also has another tradition. As students are called up, they place a $1 bill in a bag. The last person called gets all the money. This year’s winner was Brooke Coleman, a fourth-year medical student who was matched to Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif.

“”I’m pretty psyched about the money and where I was matched,”” Coleman said after the ceremony. “”Drinks are on me tonight.””

Matched medical students will graduate with their doctorates on May 14.