Since entering Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2012, Ashlee Hurff Arteaga has served as president of her class each year, which gave her a front row seat to the challenges and triumphs experienced by her classmates.
Match Day, she said, is the culmination of a medical student’s efforts and a day she and her classmates have eagerly awaited.
“There’s a high level of excitement, some anxiety and nerves,” Arteaga said of the time leading up to discovering where she and her classmates will spend the next several years in their medical residencies. “For us, this is such a huge celebration, getting to share everyone’s job search together.”
Match Day is the crowning moment of the National Resident Match Program (NRMP), which matches thousands of medical students with residency programs at medical centers and hospitals across the country.
Amidst tears, hugs, high-fives, applause and sighs of relief, the 79 fourth-year School of Medicine students who participated in this year’s festivities learned where they would be spending the next few years.
Following Vanderbilt tradition, names were randomly selected by Amy Fleming, M.D., associate dean for Medical Student Affairs.
Each student approached the stage in Langford Auditorium to a personalized song and a video screen of selected photos. After placing $1 into a fishbowl they received the envelope with their residency information.
Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, welcomed students, family and friends and continued another Vanderbilt tradition of dropping $200 into the fishbowl, which would go to the last student called to the stage as a reward for patience.
“Overall, I am just thrilled with the match,” Fleming said. “After talking to the students over the course of the application process who shared their rank list preferences with me, it’s incredible to know that the vast majority got into their top choices.
“It’s wonderful to see, yet again, our students going off to the top schools and programs in the nation. I brag about our students all the time; now others can see why.”
Arteaga, specializing in Family Medicine, and her husband, Dan Arteaga, specializing in Neurology, are one of eight couples who participated in a couples match. Married in 2014, Arteaga said their goal was to land in a place that allowed for quality time. They will be heading to the University of Virginia.
There were eight students matching into Neurosurgery this year, a significant jump from years past.
“It’s one of the most competitive specialties,” Fleming said. “And it’s a really large number of students to enter that field. I think we can attribute the big jump to how well our subspecialty surgical services support the students.”
While students and audience members captured the magnitude of the day’s events, one fourth-year student followed a group of her classmates filming a documentary about the Match Day process.
Trisha Pasricha, who also participated in Match Day, was able to combine her love for film and her desire to be a physician while a medical student at Vanderbilt.
With one documentary under her belt, “A Doctor of My Own: The First Medical Students of Namibia,” Pasricha wanted to film the Match Day culture.
“As I was entering my fourth year, I started thinking about my next project. What was on my mind, and on the mind of every other fourth-year student, was Match Day.”
An Internal Medicine candidate, Pasricha, will complete her residency at Johns Hopkins, where her husband is a current graduate student. The pair met as undergraduates at Harvard and married in 2015.
Pasricha plans to wrap up filming in May and complete the editing process within a year.
“There are two audiences for this film — film festivals across the country and national medical organizations that might be interested in sharing the film with their membership,” she said. “I hope this film sparks discussion about what is working, and maybe what isn’t working, in the match process.”
Deirdre Finnegan, who was the last student called to the stage, admitted the day was a win-win for her.
Not only did she get the cache of money that filled the fish bowl, but she also matched to her first choice in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“It was a really difficult time to wait,” said Finnegan. “The match was awesome and I am just so happy for everybody. It’s so awesome to finally get to participate. It gets better each year.”
Match Day was webcast live, allowing family and friends from around the world to watch the festivities.
2016 Residency Assignments
Ryan Adams – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary; Radiology-Diagnostic
Abraham Alvarado-Gonzalez – U. of Florida, Neurological Surgery
Daniel Arteaga – U. of Virginia, Neurology
Diego Aviles – Pennsylvania Hospital, ObGyn
Fadi Azer – Stony Brook Teaching Hospital, Transitional; VUMC, Radiology-Diagnostic
Richard Boyer – Massachusetts General Hospital, Anesthesiology
Joseph Boyle – U. of Colorado Denver, Medicine-Primary
Michael Burns – Northwestern McGaw, Internal Medicine
Geoffrey Casimir – Hofstra, Internal Medicine
Mary Charles – Duke U. Medical Center, Internal Medicine
John Chen – Emory U., Internal Medicine
Jacqueline Clauss – Massachusetts General Hospital, Psychiatry
Paul Cohen – Rhode Island Hospital, Emergency Medicine
Perrin Considine – Maricopa Medical Center, Emergency Medicine
Matthew Correia – US San Diego Medical Center – Emergency Medicine
Laura D’Aoust – VUMC, Pediatrics
Benjamin Dean – U. of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, Child Neurology
Jaime de la Fuente – Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Internal Medicine
Kelly Diaz – U. of Alabama School of Medicine, Family Medicine
Deanna Dickerman – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary; Medical College of Georgia, Dermatology
Daren Dilorio – Medical College of Wisconsin, Pediatrics-Preliminary; Dermatology
Stephen Dorner – Massachusetts General Hospital, Emergency Medicine
Mana Espahbodi – Medical College of Wisconsin, Otolaryngology
Shanik Fernando – VUMC, Otolaryngology
Deirdre Finnegan – Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, Pediatrics
Stephanie Flavin – Massachusetts General Hospital, Emergency Medicine
Megan Freeman – UPMC Medical Education, Pediatrics
Tanner Freeman – UPMC Medical Education, Pathology
Glynnis Garry – U. of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Internal Medicine
Jonathan Gelber – Alameda Health System, Emergency Medicine
Zain Gowani – Johns Hopkins, Internal Medicine
Brian Grieb – VUMC, Internal Medicine
Richard Guyer – Massachusetts General Hospital, General Surgery
DeAngelo Harris – Emory U. School of Medicine, General Surgery
Tenisha Hinners – VUMC, Pathology
Benjamin Hooe – Columbia U. Medical Center, Pediatrics
Kristen Hovis – VUMC, Otolaryngology
Ashlee Hurff Arteaga – U. of Virginia, Family Medicine
Rivka Ihejirika – NYU School of Medicine, Orthopaedic Surgery
Annette Ilg – Baron Deaconess Medical Center, Emergency Medicine
Ebone Ingram – VUMC, Psychiatry
Kelli Jarrell – U. of Cincinnati Medical Center, Emergency Medicine
Hannah Johnson – Children’s Hospital of Boston, Child Neurology
Laura Kaufman – Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Family Medicine
Harrison Kay – U. of Southern California, Orthopaedic Surgery
Vanessa Kennedy – Stanford U., Internal Medicine
Byron Knowles – Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Transitional; UCLA Medical Center, Dermatology
Mary Ellen Koran – St. Thomas Hospitals, Medicine-Preliminary; Stanford U., Radiology-Diagnostic
Emily Krainer – U. of Rochester, Child Neurology
Kevin Kumar – Stanford U., Neurological Surgery
Gregory LaChaud – U. of Florida College of Medicine, Orthopaedic Surgery
Travis Ladner – Icahn School of Medicine – Neurological Surgery
James Lee – Emory U., Internal Medicine
Young Lee – U.C. San Francisco, Neurological Surgery
Robert Lentz – Northwestern McGaw, Internal Medicine
Marguerite Lloyd – Johns Hopkins Hospital, Medicine-Pediatrics
Mary Masterman – U. of Kansas School of Medicine, Family Medicine
Jessica Meshman – UCLA Medical Center, Medicine-Preliminary; Jackson Memorial Hospital, Radiation-Oncology
Jason Metcalf – U. of Michigan Hospitals, Pediatrics
Victoria Migdal – Georgia Regents U., Emergency Medicine
Ana Milisavljevic – Jackson Memorial Hospital, Internal Medicine
Clinton Morgan – St. Josephs Hospital, Neurological Surgery
Keaton Morgan – Indiana U. School of Medicine, Emergency Medicine
Tejaswi Mudigonda – U. of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Medicine-Preliminary; Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Dermatology
Melissa Musser – Children’s Hospital of Boston, Pediatrics
Arash Nayeri – UCLA Medical Center, Internal Medicine
Caroline Nebhan – VUMC, Internal Medicine
Erin Nichols – Pennsylvania Hospital, Medicine-Preliminary; Wills Eye Residency Program, Ophthalmology
Aaron Noll – Spartanburg Regional Healthcare, Transitional; U. of Florida, Ophthalmology
Trisha Pasricha – Johns Hopkins Hospital, Internal Medicine
Kelly Pekala – UPMC Medical Education, Surgery-Preliminary; Urology
Praveen Pendyala – VUMC, Medicine-Preliminary
Alec Petersen – Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Internal Medicine
Daniel Pipilas – Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Internal Medicine
Eric Rafla-Yuan – UC San Diego Medical Center, Psychiatry
Vishruth Reddy – U. of Pennsylvania Hospital, Radiation Oncology
Nida Safdar – Massachusetts General Hospital, Pathology
Nicholas Shelburne – Duke U. Medical Center, Internal Medicine
Calvin Sheng – Johns Hopkins Hospital, Internal Medicine
Jared Shenson – Stanford U., Otolaryngology
Irene Shyu – Virginia Commonwealth U., Pathology
Anne Smith – U. of Missouri, ObGyn
John Stokes – VUMC, General Surgery
Eszter Szentirmai – VUMC, Pathology
Brittany Tielbur – Duke U. Medical Center, Internal Medicine
Allison Umfress – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary; Ophthalmology
Obinna Umunakwe – St. Thomas Hospitals, Medicine-Preliminary; Duke U., Ophthalmology
Lucy Unger – U. of Utah Affiliated Hospitals, Emergency Medicine
Leonela Villegas – Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, Pediatrics
Gabrielle White-Dzuro – U. of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, Neurological Surgery
Isa Wismann-Horther – Johns Hopkins Hospital, ObGyn
Kelly Wolenberg – VUMC, Pediatrics
George Yang – U. of Cincinnati Medical Center, Neurological Surgery
Tiffany Yang – U. of Pennsylvania Medical College, Pediatrics
Denise Ye – Emory U., Medicine-Preliminary; Neurology
Aaron Yengo-Kahn – VUMC, Neurological Surgery
Lily Yu – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Pediatrics
Chi Zhang – VUMC, Internal Medicine
Xuechao Zhang – SUNY Health Services, Surgery-Preliminary; Anesthesiology
Sophie Zhao – VUMC, Internal Medicine