Medical students across New York City and America gathered in groups yesterday at noon to open what for many of them is one of the most important envelopes of their lives. Inside was information about where they would be residents next year.

“It was pure mayhem,” the president of the graduating class at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, Tamara Dunn, said of the fateful hour. “You heard a lot of screaming.”

Graduating seniors from American schools mostly received the residencies they desired, with 60.1% matched with their first choice and 84.6% with one of their top three.

Nationally, more doctors chose what are called “lifestyle” specialties such as dermatology or anesthesiology, which are perceived to offer more money for fewer hours of work.

Several New York schools bucked the trend, however. At the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, six of the 143 students graduating to a residency will go on to specialize in anesthesiology, compared with 11 last year. Eight will specialize in radiology, down from 16 last year, whereas eight students will pursue obstetrics and gynecology, three more than last year.

“Nothing like OB for long hours,” the associate dean for students at Einstein College, Dr. James David, said. Obstetricians face higher malpractice insurance rates and a greater risk of lawsuits than other specialists.

More students nationally also elected to specialize in surgery. All but one of the 1,047 general surgery positions were filled through the student and residency match, which is run by the National Resident Matching Program.

A graduating senior at Columbia University Medical Center’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, Katherine Martin, said that learning where her residency would be made her very excited to become a doctor. “We’ve been in school for so long, and it’s wonderful to be going out and giving back and really contributing,” she said.