By SUSAN IPAKTCHIAN

With his fiancée by his side, Farhad Imam motioned for family members to gather closer in a corner of the Fairchild Auditorium lobby while he unsealed the envelope that would tell him where the next phase of his medical training would occur.

The result: a pediatrics residency at Boston Children's Hospital at Harvard. "It's my first choice," said Imam, a graduating MD/PhD student at the School of Medicine who also earned his undergraduate degree here and is getting married in two weeks. "I haven't lived more than five miles away from Stanford since I was 6 years old. I may want to end up back here, so we thought this was a good opportunity to live somewhere else for a few years."

Imam was surrounded by classmates who were also learning about their residencies during the annual Match Day ceremony on March 18. On that day, 25,246 graduating medical students throughout the United States and Canada found out where they'll receive the next three to seven years of training, depending on their specialty. The National Residency Matching Program pairs students and residency programs, and students must accept the appointment for at least a year.

Medical student Seema Sanzgiri pumps her arms in triumph after learning that she'll serve her residency in internal medicine at Stanford Hospital during the Match Day ceremony March 18. Stanford was Sanzgiri's first choice. Photo: Visual Art Services

Imam was among the majority of Stanford students who got their top residency choice. Terry Blaschke, MD, professor of medicine and of molecular pharmacology and associate dean for medical student advising, said that of the students who indicated how they ranked their residency choices, 74 percent got their first choice and 91 percent matched to one of their top three on their list.

"Our students matched at excellent places," such as Stanford, UCSF, UCLA, Harvard and the Mayo Clinic, Blaschke said. He noted that 25 of the 83 students will enter primary-care residencies, which includes family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. Others will serve residencies in such specialties as dermatology, radiation oncology and anesthesiology.

One of the specialty students was Debbie Williams, who matched with her top choice -- a private practice anesthesia group in Seattle. "It's a small group, the people there are wonderful and the group is really well-known especially in regional anesthesia, which is something I'm interested in," said Williams, who brought along her husband Patrick and her 7-month-old puppy Josie to share in the event. "This is something that affects our whole family so we wanted our whole family here."

Williams, who is expecting a baby in October, will first serve a one-year internship at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, which will give her husband time to finish law school before they move to Seattle.

While some students were excited by the prospect of moving to a different part of the country, others were just as pleased to be remaining in the Bay Area. Seema Sanzgiri was ecstatic when she learned she would be doing an internal medicine residency at Stanford Hospital. "I love the people here, I love the program and the residency director is just the best," she said between hugs from classmates.

Wearing a puka shell necklace and a T-shirt that depicted a doctor's white coat, Hawaii native Stuart Tsuji said he was looking forward to his residency in radiation oncology at UC-San Francisco.

"Radiation oncology is a really competitive field, and UCSF has a really good program," said Tsuji, who is heading to Guatemala for a few months before his residency begins. He said he hopes to participate in a Spanish-language immersion class while he's there.

At the Match Day ceremony, envelopes were distributed by Julie Parsonnet, MD, senior associate dean for medical education, promptly at 10 a.m. -- the same time students at other medical schools were learning their fates. Dean Philip Pizzo, MD, spoke to the students before the ceremony, congratulating them on their hard work and noting that their careers plans may change in the coming years. "The opportunities to evolve are what you've been preparing yourselves for," Pizzo said.