Surrounded by family on Match Day 2025, Dr. Kameron Williamson held the envelope that would decide the next three years of his life. The moment marked a culmination of years of medical training at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, resilience and a childhood cancer diagnosis that first inspired his dream of becoming a physician.
Match Day is an annual, nationwide event where upcoming graduating MD students receive sealed envelopes informing them where they have “matched” for residency training. Williamson remembers the moment opening his envelope as one filled with a mixture of angst, hope and enthusiasm for his future medical career.
“There's a lot of energy around Match Day, a lot of highs and lows while you're waiting to open up that envelope and see where you match,” Williamson says. “They make you wait until noon, which is even more nerve-wracking, and you don’t know what’s on the other side of that envelope.”
The envelope revealed his first choice for residency: Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, in Charlotte, where he is now a resident pediatric physician, at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital.
“I felt this huge rush of relief that I was going somewhere that I thought would be a really good fit for me and that I was going to be a pediatrician," Williamson says. “It was amazing, and you get to share that experience with your friends, to see where they’re going in their medical careers.”
While Match Day signaled the start of his residency journey, Williamson's dream of becoming a pediatrician was sparked during childhood, when he overcame his own medical challenges.
Williamson was diagnosed with large B-cell lymphoma as a child and spent lots of time receiving treatment at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. It was a scary and confusing experience, he remembers, but Williamson is grateful for his doctors and their caring demeanor to help him and his family through it all.
It set him on the path to where he is today.
“I just thought at that time, ‘these are the people I want to be like — I aspire to be like them,” Williamson says. “I wanted to learn whatever I needed to learn to do what they're doing to help kids and their families feel heard, feel seen and feel cared for.”
Williamson began his residency at Levine Children’s Hospital in July 2025. While his days are varied and never quite typical, first-year residency training involves lots of on-the-job learning.
He usually begins his shift at sunrise, reviewing overnight patient updates, planning follow-ups or changes for the day, and starting pre-rounds.
Later, he rounds with the full team, puts in orders to guide the care of patients and consults with colleagues about other aspects of patient care. He writes notes and follows up on anything that needs his attention.
“You take what you learned in medical school and you do your best to apply it," he says. “You’re a doctor through and through but you’re learning.”
Around 7 p.m., Williamson heads home, where Tybalt, a miniature schnauzer, and River, a pit bull that he welcomed to his family this year, are waiting.
Although residency is demanding, Williamson credits his teammates with fostering a positive, supportive work environment.
“My teammates are always there to pick me up,” he says.
Echoing the care he received as a child, Williamson says making a difference for patients is one of the most rewarding parts of his work. He recalls comforting a scared, young patient who later surprised him with an unexpected hug that meant everything.
“I'm not a big hugger but this was really sweet and I was having a tough day, so, it was just really nice,” he says. “Knowing that what you're doing is making a real difference and that people truly appreciate your work, makes it worth it every day.”
In a full-circle moment, during a shift in late February, Williamson ran into one of the oncology physicians who treated him years earlier at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. It wasn’t the first time — he’s crossed paths with several members of his childhood care team during his residency in Charlotte.
It’s just one of the many reasons that confirm he’s in the right place, in the right career, just a year after that Match Day envelope guided him here.
“I don't think I could see myself anywhere else or doing any other specialty,” Williamson says. “Pediatrics is great, the people here are great, the environment is great and I'm learning a lot, every day. I have a long way to go but I'm a lot further than where I started.”
This year’s Match Day class will gather in Winston-Salem on March 20, hoping for the same moment of relief and joy. It’s only been a year since his Match Day, but Williamson can already look back on how far he’s come. His advice to future residents, holding their breaths until opening their envelopes as the clock strikes noon?
“You’ve put in the work in medical school, now it’s time to embrace this new adventure, which all begins with Match Day,” Williamson says.
