March 22, 2021

Match Day reveals medical students’ residency locations

Match Day — and Vanderbilt’s longstanding tradition of gathering fourth-year medical students, their families, friends and faculty together to celebrate — was revamped again this year to implement social distancing measures due to COVID-19. Unlike last year, however, the students had the option to reveal their residency matches either in person or virtually via livestream.

Pious Patel and Sanjana Salwi react as they learn their residency locations at last week's Match Day event.
Pious Patel and Sanjana Salwi react as they learn their residency locations at last week’s Match Day event. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

by Kathy Whitney

Match Day — and Vanderbilt’s longstanding tradition of gathering fourth-year medical students, their families, friends and faculty together to celebrate — was revamped again this year to implement social distancing measures due to COVID-19. Unlike last year, however, the students had the option to reveal their residency matches either in person or virtually via livestream.

Daniel Whitehurst and Megan Wright are headed for Cincinnati.

Held on March 19, Match Day was the crowning moment of the National Resident Match Program, which matched thousands of medical students with residency programs at medical centers and hospitals across the country.

About half the 93 members of the class opted to meet in Langford Auditorium, albeit without family and friends present, and the other half remained off campus and revealed their matches via Zoom.

Amy Fleming, MD, associate dean of Medical Student Affairs, randomly called student names, and one by one, each student revealed where he or she had matched and into which specialty. Donald Brady, MD, senior associate dean of Health Sciences Education, placed a pin on the U.S. map documenting each student’s residency placement.

“We are so proud of the class of 2021 and full of excitement for their futures in medicine and science. Each of these resilient students has continued to work in service to their patients and communities despite this unprecedented year,” Fleming said. “Match Day was a celebration of their efforts and an acknowledgement of years of training, hard work and dedication. I cannot wait to see them shine in residency.”

Kelsei Brown will stay at VUMC for her residency in Anesthesiology.
Kelsei Brown will stay at VUMC for her residency in Anesthesiology. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

The class of 2021 class faced challenges with COVID-19 restrictions that prevented them from doing “away rotations” at other hospitals that would have given them a sense of what those programs offer and prohibited them from holding in-person interviews and meeting peer residents.

This year, 28 members of the class will stay at Vanderbilt for residency, and five will stay for their preliminary year before going elsewhere for residency. All of the general surgery and plastic surgery matches are women, as are three of the seven neurosurgery matches. Four couples participated in a “couples match,” including Daniel Whitehurst and Megan Wright.

The couple met at the School of Medicine’s Second Look event as prospective first-year students in 2017.

Carolyn Ahlers is off to Duke University Medical Center.
Carolyn Ahlers is off to Duke University Medical Center. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

“By our White Coat ceremony, he was the first person I thought of to take a picture with. I couldn’t find him anywhere, so I called him, and he came back to campus to humor me. In a happy coincidence we met each other’s parents that night after unknowingly making dinner reservations at the same restaurant. It didn’t take much more than that to start dating, and we’ve been together ever since,” Wright said.

Wright matched to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where she will begin an emergency medicine residency, and Whitehurst matched to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for a pediatrics residency.

“We’re both absolutely thrilled,” Wright said. “The beauty of couples matching is that we knew we would be happy as long as we were together. I think everyone watching could tell how excited we were and that this wasn’t just any combination for us.”

Karampreet “Peety” Kaur tears up after announcing her match.
Karampreet “Peety” Kaur tears up after announcing her match. (photo by Anne Rayner)

Petria Thompson, PhD, a MSTP student for the past seven years, opened her Match Day email at home and shared the results via Zoom. She will be going to St. Mary’s Medical Center for a medicine preliminary year and then to University of California-San Francisco where she will do a radiation oncology residency.

“I was drawn to being part of a multidisciplinary care team that develops personalized treatments for cancer patients,” Thompson said. “The anatomy-based nature of the field and the ability combine my basic science interest in DNA repair with meaningful patient relationships was a huge draw.”

Thompson said she has learned some valuable lessons during her extended time at VUSM.

Mark Xu is going to Wake Forest University for his residency in Urology.
Mark Xu is going to Wake Forest University for his residency in Urology. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

“Leadership is not just about what you accomplish, but how you make those around you feel.

Hard work plus genuine kindness goes a long way.”

The breakdown of how many students matched into each residency program is as follows: Anesthesiology-5; Dermatology-5; Emergency Med-4; Family Medicine-1; General Surgery-2; Internal Medicine-21; Neurological Surgery-7; Neurology-5; OB/GYN-4; Ophthalmology-6; Orthopaedic Surgery-4; Otolaryngology-3; Pediatrics-9; PM&R-2; Plastic Surgery (Integrated)-2; Psychiatry-1; Radiation Oncology-2; Radiology-Diagnostic-3; and Urology-2.

 

Match Day list 2021

As the last name called, Natalie Hibshman took home the fishbowl of donations, which were made online this year.
As the last person called, Natalie Hibshman took home the fishbowl of donations, which were made online this year. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

Carolyn Ahlers – Duke U. Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Annie Apple – Hospital of the U. of Pennsylvania, OB-GYN

David Arteaga – U. of Texas Southwestern, Internal Medicine

Laura Baker – Barnes Jewish Hospital, Medicine-Preliminary; UC San Francisco, Dermatology

Scott Beeler – Barnes Jewish Hospital, Internal Medicine

Sean Berkowitz – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary/Ophthalmology

Cam Bermudez Noguera – Mayo Clinic, Neurology

Michael Bezzerides – U. of Wisconsin Hospital, Emergency Medicine

Manasa Bhatta – Mount Sinai Hospital, Internal Medicine

Kelsei Brown – VUMC, Anesthesiology

Peter Bryant – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary

Adrian Cadar – VUMC, Internal Medicine/ABIM Research Path

Arrush Choudhary – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Valentine Chukwuma – VUMC, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Anne Coogan – VUMC, Neurology

Roger Day – Boston Children’s Hospital, Pediatrics/Urban Health Advocacy

Gabriella DiCarlo – Massachusetts General Hospital, Medicine-Preliminary; Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Neurology

Pauleatha Diggs – VUCM, Medicine-Preliminary; Dermatology

Sushmitha Divakar – UC San Francisco, Internal Medicine

Stephanie Dudzinski – U. of Texas Medical School, Medicine-Preliminary; MD Anderson Cancer Center; Radiation Oncology

Joseph Elsakr – VUMC, Internal Medicine

Will Furuyama – VUMC, Urology

Nicky Grimes – MedStar Washington Hospital, Medicine-Preliminary; Stanford U., Radiology-Diagnostic

Andrew Hale – U. of Alabama Medical Center, Neurological Surgery

Saif Hamdan – Thomas Jefferson U., Medicine-Preliminary; Ophthalmology

Holly Harper – VUMC, Pediatrics

Britt Hatcher – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary/Ophthalmology

Catie Havemann – U. of Chicago Medical Center, Emergency Medicine

Natalie Hibshman – Duke U. Medical Center, Plastic Surgery

Joyce Huang – U. Texas, Plastic Surgery

Demetra Hufnagel – UCLA Medical Center, OB-GYN

Sumeeth Jonathan – Baylor College of Medicine, Neurological Surgery

Peety Kaur – Hospital of the U. of Pennsylvania, OB-GYN

Katherine Kelly – U. of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, Neurological Surgery

Lindsay Kozek – Harvard Medical School, Ophthalmology

Marie Kuzemchak – VUMC, General Surgery

Matthews Lan – Thomas Jefferson U., Neurological Surgery

Kyle Langford – VUMC, Pediatrics

James Law – Albany Medical Center, Medicine-Preliminary/Ophthalmology

Jaclyn Lee – VUMC, Otolaryngology

Lexi Li – VUMC, Internal Medicine

Mollie Limb – Swedish Medical Center, Family Medicine

Sneha Lingam – Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Neurology

Grant MacKinnon – Indiana U., Transitional; U. of Michigan Hospitals, Radiology-Diagnostic

MariaSanta Mangione – U. of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Internal Medicine

Tanner McArdle – U. of Wisconsin Hospital, Anesthesiology

Lydia McKeithan – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary

Allyson Metro – VUMC, Pediatrics

Meredith Monsour – VUMC, Neurological Surgery

Chandler Montgomery – VUMC, Internal Medicine

Natalia Morales – Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Medicine-Preliminary/Ophthalmology

Mark Naguib – VUMC, Pediatrics

Eva Niklinska – VUMC, Medicine-Preliminary; Dermatology

Benjamin Osher – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Pious Patel – Thomas Jefferson U., Neurological Surgery

James Patrinely – NCH Healthcare System, Transitional; VUMC, Dermatology

Daniel Pereira – Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Orthopaedic Surgery

Sarah Rachal – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Pediatrics

Michael Raddatz – UCLA Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Sneha Rajendran – UPMC Medical Education, Internal Medicine/Global Health

Jacob Ramsey – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary

Andrew Rees – Carolinas Medical Center, Orthopaedic Surgery

Sanjana Salwi – Hospital of the U. of Pennsylvania, Neurological Surgery

Adrian Sanchez – UT Ascension St. Thomas, Medicine-Preliminary; Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Radiology-Diagnostic

Alyssa Schlotman – VUMC, Pediatrics

Jacob Schultz – VUMC, Orthopaedic Surgery

Kaustav Shah – UCLA Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Eileen Shiuan – UCLA Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Jarrod Smith – U. of Utah Health, Internal Medicine

John Snow – Massachusetts General Hospital, Medicine-Preliminary; Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Neurology

Chiamaka Sonubi – WellStar Kennestone Regional Medical Center, Transitional; Emory U., Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Vaib Tadepalli – U. of Virginia, Orthopaedic Surgery

Petria Thompson – St. Mary’s Medical Center, Medicine-Preliminary; UC San Francisco, Radiation Oncology

Douglas Totten – Indiana U., Otolaryngology

Sai Vadhula – Bay State Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Erin Vrana – VUMC, OB-GYN

Anne Walker – Duke U. Medical Center, Anesthesiology

Bronson Wessinger – U. of Kentucky Medical Center, Otolaryngology

Michelle Weyhaupt – VUMC, Psychiatry

Daniel Whitehurst – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Pediatrics

Alexandra Williams – VUMC, Pediatrics

Kalin Wilson – Stanford U., Internal Medicine

Philip Wilson – Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Internal Medicine

Lucas Wollenman – VUMC, Emergency Medicine

Megan Wright – U. of Cincinnati Medical Center, Emergency Medicine

Mark Xu – Wake Forest U., Urology

Michelle York, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Internal Medicine-Primary Care/Urban Health

Danny Zakria – VUMC, Surgery-Preliminary

Michael Zhang – Amita Resurrection Medical Center, Transitional; Mayo Clinic, Dermatology

Zijun Zhao – Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Medicine-Preliminary

Yuantee Zhu – Hospital of the U. of Pennsylvania, Anesthesiology

Jessica Zic – U. of Texas Southwestern, Anesthesiology

Catherine Zivanov – Barnes-Jewish Hospital, General Surgery