Graduates of Brown University’s Alpert Medical School are keeping with national trends in their choice of specialty, with interest in primary care declining in favor of high-paying surgical specialties.

Fourth-year medical students at Brown and around the country found out on Thursday where they would be going for the hospital-based residency training they must complete before they can practice medicine. The annual “Match Day” was the largest ever, with nearly 30,000 applicants nationwide and 86 at Brown.

At Brown a higher percentage than elsewhere placed in selective surgical specialties such as neurosurgery, otolaryngology and orthopedic surgery, said Dr. Philip A. Gruppuso, associate dean of medical education. “I don’t think that our students differ from the national pool in what their career goals are,” Gruppuso said. But Brown students are better able to win the more competitive slots, he said.

Meanwhile, interest in family medicine has declined, with only four choosing that specialty this year. At Brown and nationwide, one-fifth of students chose internal medicine –– but many are expected to go on to specialize in such fields as cardiology or gastroenterology. Pediatrics is gaining, however, with nine Brown graduates choosing that specialty.

Gruppuso says that the nature and quality of schooling at Brown is not what determines the students’ career choices. Rather, he said, students base their decisions on what they expect from life after medical school, particularly the lifestyle and income. Primary care is losing ground because it pays poorly and requires long hours.

“What it really boils down to is procedure-intensive medicine. That’s what pays the high salaries,” Gruppuso said.

Additionally, today’s young doctors don’t want to sacrifice their families to their careers. “Students will say, ‘I want to have a life,’ ” Gruppuso said. “Lots of times that means wanting to spend time with their family.”

More than half of Brown’s medical students are women –– but men express the same sentiments, he said.

Contrary to popular belief, Gruppuso sees no evidence that medical school debt is driving people away from primary care. “We analyzed our data and we found no correlation between debt and career choice,” he said. “I think the students are looking at the long haul. They’re intelligent enough to know they’re going to be able to pay back the debt.”

Every year, Match Day involves suspense and celebration. To participate in the match, the students selected several residency programs and ranked them in order of preference. The residency programs also selected their preferred students. A computer algorithm run by the National Resident Matching Program then matches them up. And at noon, everyone finds out where they will spend their next three to seven years of medical training.

At Brown on Thursday, fourth-year students gathered in a dining hall where a jazz band played and buffet tables were piled with food. At noon, students lined up as administrators handed out the envelopes that tell them where they matched. The room quickly filled with shrieks of delight. For most, it works out well.

Among the 92 people expected to graduate from Brown this year, 84 were selected for a first-year position, 6 did not seek residency training and 2 failed to match.

This year, nationwide, some 7 percent of students failed to match anywhere; none of the programs they were interested in wanted them. And 5 percent of residency positions were left empty.

Sarah Whittle was among those who received happy news on Thursday –– she’s been accepted into Brown’s pediatrics residency at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. She’s not concerned that pediatricians make less money than many other doctors; she’s wanted to be a pediatrician since childhood. “I just want to do what makes me happy,” Whittle said, “and pediatrics makes me happy.”

ffreyer@projo.com