The crescendo of four years

On Match Day, the mood reflects a stellar list of residency placements, “by far the best we’ve ever had.”

In a scene that combined the envelope-opening excitement of the Academy Awards with the destination-determining drama of the nfl draft, more than 90 fourth-year medical students gathered at Marigolds on March 20 for Match Day, the annual ritual that decides where students will start their careers.

“I’m not too stressed, but I’m very, very interested to find out where I’ll be spending the next three or four years of my life,” said Gabe Simon. (His equanimity paid off as he got into his first choice, the emergency medicine program at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh.)

Marta Rivera said Match Day was even more stressful than the day she was accepted to medical school because “it affects more than just you. Other people are involved as well.” In Rivera’s case, her parents, her fiancé and his parents all hoped she’d match to an internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell because it is near the home of her future in-laws. (She, too, had her wish granted.)

Surveying the cafeteria, which was rapidly filling with students clutching cameras, bouquets and cell phones, Rivera said, “It’s nice to be able to share this with so many people going through the exact same thing at the exact same time.”

The scene at Yale was replicated around the country as more than 14,000 U.S. medical school seniors learned which residency programs they will be entering. The National Resident Matching Program was established in 1952 to create a mechanism for filling residency slots and promote fairness in the selection process. Applicants list their program preferences, program directors indicate their choice of applicants and a computer makes the matches. This year marked a record high in the number of applicants (23,965, including international medical graduates) and an all-time high in the number of residency positions offered—23,365, up 450 from last year. A record 575 couples participated in the Match as partners.

At the stroke of noon students shouted and clapped as they pushed toward the door of the dining hall like fans at a rock concert. Nimi Tuamokumo tore open her envelope with shaking hands. Then she let out a loud scream and fell to her knees in tears—she’d been accepted into her first choice, Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s radiation oncology program.

“It’s weird. This is all I’ve been talking about for the last four months,” said Andrew Cooper, who was pleased to learn he’ll be specializing in orthopaedic surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. “I don’t know what I’m going to talk about now.”

Richard Breck, M.D. ’45, who was among several alumni on hand for a Match Day luncheon, said the emotional intensity of the scene in Marigolds was far different from when he was a medical student in the days before the match. “This is far more alive,” he said, gesturing toward several students in a group hug. “Of course the war was still on, so that was a factor, but my memory is that one by one we went to our mailboxes and opened our envelopes alone.”

When the 2003 Match concluded, 94 Yale medical students knew what the next big step in their career paths would be. Nancy R. Angoff, M.P.H. ’81, M.D. ’90, HS ’93, associate dean for student affairs, said dermatology (always a draw at Yale because of the strength of the program) and radiation oncology were popular fields among students this year, with five and four placements, respectively.

“Students think of them as lifestyle fields,” she said. “They don’t have a lot of emergencies, so their lives are a little more predictable.” A regular schedule also makes these fields more amenable to dual careers in clinical medicine and research, Angoff said. The salaries also tend to be higher, which is important to students, who leave Yale carrying an average debt of $100,000.

Based on the “overall sense of happiness” in Harkness Lounge and the quality of the programs the students got into, Angoff called the 2003 Match “by far the best we’ve ever had.” She credits the current class of graduates as well as Yale alumni. “If they weren’t doing well in their residencies, the hospitals wouldn’t want our current students,” she said.

—Jennifer Kaylin

2003 residency placements for Yale medical students

The Office of Student Affairs has provided the following list, which outlines the results of the National Resident Matching Program for Yale’s medical graduates. Some names appear twice because the graduate is entering a one-year program before beginning a specialty residency. The transitional designation is a one-year program with three-month rotations in different specialties.

CALIFORNIA
Loma Linda University
Michael Bolton, plastic surgery

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose
Warren Kim, transitional

Stanford University Programs
Jennifer Chao, medicine-preliminary
Dita Gratzinger, pathology
Richard Hsu, general surgery
Daniel Pham, diagnostic radiology

UCLA Medical Center
Ryan Barton, anesthesiology

UCLA–VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
Charlton Kim, internal medicine

University of California, San Francisco
Adrian Hinman, orthopaedic surgery
Pamina Kim, internal medicine
Warren Kim, diagnostic radiology
David Lao, internal medicine
Saeher Muzaffar, internal medicine

University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Jennifer Chao, ophthalmology

CANADA
McGill University, Montreal
Matthew Stiebel, orthopaedic surgery

CONNECTICUT
Greenwich Hospital
Kevin Johnson, medicine-preliminary

Hospital of Saint Raphael, New Haven
Jennie Bailey, transitional

Yale-New Haven Hospital
Leah Ahoya, obstetrics and gynecology
Justin Cohen, surgery-preliminary, urology
Charles Dela Cruz, internal medicine
Michael DiLuna, surgery-preliminary, neurosurgery
Daniel Kanada, medicine-preliminary, diagnostic radiology
Maxwell Laurans, surgery-preliminary, neurosurgery
Ryan Lieberman, psychiatry
J. Ryan Martin, obstetrics and gynecology
Jennifer Nam, dermatology
Melissa Pradhan, internal medicine/primary
Jeffrey Seiden, pediatrics
Christopher Severson, medicine-preliminary
Elaine Shay, ophthalmology
Abhishek Sinha, internal medicine
Joahd Toure, internal medicine
Juan Vasquez, surgery

DELAWARE
Christiana Care, Wilmington
Elaine Shay, medicine-preliminary

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Georgetown University Hospital
Ryan Barton, transitional

FLORIDA
Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami
Andrew Cooper, orthopaedic surgery

INDIANA
Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis
Caron Farrell, pediatrics/psychiatry/child psychiatry

IOWA
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Program, Iowa City
Todd Fairchild, orthopaedic surgery

MARYLAND
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
Mathew Augustine, general surgery
Justin Bekelman, medicine-preliminary
Scott Berkowitz, internal medicine
John Koo, ophthalmology
Amar Krishnaswamy, internal medicine
Maya Lodish, pediatrics
Jennifer Teitelbaum, psychiatry

University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore
Jennifer Teitelbaum, medicine-preliminary

MASSACHUSETTS
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
David Geist, medicine-preliminary
John Koo, medicine-preliminary

Boston University Medical Center
David Geist, dermatology
Anil Shivaram, ophthalmology

Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
Adam Cuker, internal medicine
Namita Kumar, internal medicine/primary
Vivek Murthy, internal medicine/primary
Abhijit Patel, radiation oncology
Jennifer Schutzman, internal medicine
Nimi Tuamokumo, radiation oncology

Brigham/Faulkner Hospital, Boston
Jennifer Nam, medicine-preliminary

Children’s Hospital of Boston
Patricia Diaz, pediatrics
Roselia Guillen-Santana, pediatrics/primary
Lisa Roy, pediatrics

Harvard Combined Program, Boston
Margaret Bourdeaux, medicine/pediatrics
Gregory DeBlasi, orthopaedic surgery

Lahey Clinic Program, Burlington
Micah Jacobs, surgery-preliminary, urology

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Essmaeel Abdel-Dayem, diagnostic radiology
Wael Asaad, surgery-preliminary, neurosurgery
Tracey Cho, medicine-preliminary
Christopher Cutie, surgery-preliminary, urology
Abigail Donovan, pediatrics-preliminary,
psychiatry–adult and child
Karin Finberg, clinical pathology

Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
Tracey Cho, neurology
Christopher Severson, neurology

Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge
Anil Shivaram, medicine-preliminary
Nimi Tuamokumo, medicine-preliminary

Tufts University, Malden
Rebecca Seekamp, family practice

MICHIGAN
University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor
Colin Greineder, emergency medicine
Daniel Mayman, psychiatry

MINNESOTA
Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis
Jianling Yuan, transitional

University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis
Jianling Yuan, radiation oncology

MISSOURI
Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis
Kevin Johnson, diagnostic radiology
Rahel Nardos, obstetrics and gynecology

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon
Clare Drebitko, pediatrics
Khashayar Farsad, surgery-preliminary, neurosurgery

NEW YORK
Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park
Michael Tang, emergency medicine

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Justin Bekelman, radiation oncology
Abhijit Patel, transitional

Mount Sinai Hospital
Jason Baynes, orthopaedic surgery
Lysiane Ribeiro, psychiatry
Arien Smith, surgery-preliminary, neurosurgery

Mount Sinai School of Medicine–Cabrini
Daniel Pham, medicine-preliminary
Daniel Saketkhoo, medicine-preliminary

New York Presbyterian Hospital–Columbia
Saeed Ahmed, pediatrics
Kathryn Teel, pediatrics

New York Presbyterian Hospital–Cornell
Jennie Bailey, dermatology
Mary-Ann Etiebet, internal medicine/primary
Marta Rivera, internal medicine/primary

New York University School of Medicine
Essmaeel Abdel-Dayem, medicine-preliminary
Boris Veysman, emergency medicine
Queens Hospital/Mount Sinai
Michael Tang, medicine-preliminary

NORTH CAROLINA
University of North Carolina Hospital, Chapel Hill
Matthew Goldenberg, general psychiatry

OHIO
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Louie Enriquez, medicine-preliminary, diagnostic radiology
Anya Mari Szeglin, medicine-preliminary, dermatology

PENNSYLVANIA
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Steven Farmer, internal medicine
Satish Nagula, internal medicine
Daniel Saketkhoo, diagnostic radiology
Grace Suh, internal medicine

University Health Center of Pittsburgh
Gabriel Simon, emergency medicine

RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University, Providence
Mari Rebane, general surgery

UTAH
University of Utah Affiliated Hospitals, Salt Lake City
Daniel Kline, medicine-preliminary, ophthalmology

WASHINGTON
Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma
Garth S. Herbert, general surgery

University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, Seattle
John Cowden, pediatrics
Matthew Kronman, pediatrics
Michael Gregory Thompson, pediatrics
Bertrand Wicholas, psychiatry

WISCONSIN
Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, Milwaukee
Melissa Chiang, medicine-preliminary, dermatology
Younghoon Cho, plastic surgery

Still smokin’, still addictive

A sizzling second-year show spins the tale of a “healthy” cigarette and a fiendish plot to steal its formula.

Ever since his arrival at Yale in 1997 fresh from his battles with the tobacco industry as head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dean David A. Kessler, M.D., has provided fodder for the second-year show. In 1998 students teased him with a song called “FDA Dropout.” Another recent show featured a video of Kessler sneaking out of a bathroom to the tune of “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room.”

Kessler has encouraged this tradition by “buying” his way into the show each year with a donation to local charities. Included in his annual largesse are roles for Nancy R. Angoff, M.P.H. ’81, M.D. ’90, HS ’93, associate dean for student affairs, and Ruth J. Katz, J.D., M.P.H., associate dean for administration.

This year Kessler portrayed himself and paid lip service to the virtues of a vegetarian, low-sodium, lactose-free “healthy cigarette” developed at Yale. Then Kessler, the author of a “well-written but soporific” book on the tobacco industry, helped steal the sole copy of the cigarette’s formula. Had Big Tobacco finally bought him off?

So it seemed until two secret agents traced the theft to Dr. Evil, transplanted from the set of an Austin Powers movie to join the Class of ’05—make that ’005—in “The Spy Who Smoked Me.” The healthy cigarettes, tested at Yale in a randomized, quadruple-blind, double-deaf, one-third-mute study, were still addictive, as revealed in a disco dance-off as Kessler and Angoff struggled for the last butt. With the two deans in the grip of Saturday Night fever, Katz (“I bought my way into the show”) filched the last cigarette in the administrators’ stash.

To the rescue came Gold Bond (Douglas Walled) and Agent XX (Mihae Yun), the lithe and chromosomally correct brains behind the investigation, who recovered the formula.

The show netted almost $6,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven.

—Cathy Shufro


			Originally published in Yale Medicine, Summer 2003. Copyright © 2003 Yale University School of Medicine. All rights reserved.