From Many Beginnings, One Destination:
UT Medical Students Meet Their Match
When Maria Sandoval lost a kidney to cancer at the age of 3, she gained a physician and mentor who helped guide her along her own path to becoming a doctor.
“Dr. Jerry Swaney has been my pediatric oncologist since I was diagnosed with Wilms’ tumor,” said Sandoval, an El Paso native. “He’s like the type of doctor I want to be. I’ve always admired the way he works with patients and their families. He’s taken care of me almost my entire life. He even called to check on me after I had my baby. I want to provide that same level of personalized care to my patients.”
With almost four years of medical school behind her, Sandoval, now 28, is close to fulfilling her goal of becoming a physician dedicated to excellence in patient care.
Senior Merari Zavala opens senior Rishi Agrawal’s envelope at Match Day 2006. Agrawal placed at Henry Ford in Detroit while Zavala placed residency at University of South Floridal. Photo by Melanie Hillis
On March 16, Sandoval and close to 200 of her classmates at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston participated in Match Day, an annual event coordinated by the National Resident Matching Program. During the festivities, held in Fannin Plaza, students tore open envelopes to reveal where their chosen professions will take them next.
The process leading them to this moment is similar to a job search. Students apply to residency programs, interview with directors, rank the programs of their choice and then wait to see if they’ve earned one of the coveted positions. Meanwhile, residency directors are ranking applicants they would like to be in their program.
Approximately 16,000 U.S. medical school seniors compete alongside 17,000 independent applicants for approximately 24,000 residency positions. Everyone finds out on the same day whether they’ve matched to a program.
At the UT Medical School, all students matched to programs.
The top three areas of medicine students chose for residency training this year are pediatrics, anesthesiology and family practice.
Sandoval is among 28 students who chose pediatrics – the most popular medical specialty among seniors. Sandoval will move with her husband and 10-month-old son to Temple. “I’m going to Scott & White Memorial Hospital,” she said. “I’m so excited!”
Anesthesiology was the second top choice for UT seniors this year. Merari “Mary” Zavala, who will do her residency at the University of South Florida, said anesthesiology is a good fit for her. “I enjoy anesthesiology because surgery is a very stressful moment in patients’ lives, and it will be my job to make that moment less stressful and go smoothly with no memory of pain,” Zavala said.
Zavala, who was born in El Salvador, is the first in her family to graduate from high school. “I have worked hard to get where I am, but I would not be here without the support of family, teachers, friends, and most importantly, God.” Zavala’s family was right by her side when she opened her envelope. Any stress was immediately erased when she saw the word “Florida.”
Martha Suarez, who was born in a small town near Monterrey, Mexico, and moved to Houston when she was 12, is among 22 seniors who plan to go into family practice. She will stay at the UT Medical School for her residency training.
In 2005, more UT seniors chose internal medicine than any other specialty. This year, it was down to No. 4. Twenty students, including Ryan Barrientos, will be entering internal medicine residency programs this summer.
Barrientos, who will stay at the UT Medical School, first became interested in medicine while doing volunteer work at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital when he was in high school. Barrientos, 27, said he enjoyed interacting with patients. And after he got to see an open-heart surgery from the observation room, “the rest is history.” As a student at Texas A&M University, Barrientos volunteered at a free clinic and also worked as a medic during football games. Now he wants to do his residency training in internal medicine.
“I like the broad scope of internal medicine,” Barrientos said. “You can be of service to a wide variety of patients.”
The number of UT medical students choosing to do residencies in psychiatry and/or child psychiatry has more than doubled in the past year. Marco Chavez, a Brownsville native, got his first choice and will stay here at the UT Medical School for his training as a child psychiatrist. “I love children. I love to talk, and I love to listen, so psychiatry was a good fit for me,” Chavez said. He is one of 17 students going into either psychiatry or child psychiatry. In 2005, only seven chose to specialize in psychiatry.
Cynthia Rios is one of 13 seniors who will do their training in obstetrics and gynecology. On Thursday she learned she will move to Amarillo for her residency. “It’s a change,” Rios said. “It’s exciting!”
A dozen students, including John McFate, will enter surgery residencies. At the heart of McFate’s decision to become a surgeon is the uncle who raised him. The man he refers to as his dad had heart disease and died of complications stemming from a four-vessel bypass.
UT Medical School classmates Tracy Byerly, 26, and John McFate, 27, congratulate each other on successful residency matches. Photo by Meredith Raine
“I always knew I wanted to go to college and become a doctor, but what really solidified my decision to become a surgeon was my dad. It was a big factor,” said McFate, 27, of Irving.
Because of his exposure to robotic surgery and cardiothoracic research during his four years of medical school, McFate said he would like to pursue fellowship training in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery after his residency at Orlando Regional in Florida.
“During my third year of medical school, I got to hold a patient’s heart. In that moment, I was hooked. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. You have to go with what you have a passion for.”
Prathap “Jacob” Joseph, 26, has been pursuing his dream of becoming a physiatrist since he was in high school. Joseph, who grew up in the Bellaire area, attended the Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions before going to The University of Texas at Austin. While working on his undergraduate degree, he took a job as a physical therapy technician at South Austin Hospital. “I worked with patients to help them get stronger,” Joseph said.
After college, he began volunteering at TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) in between classes, study sessions and clerkships at the UT Medical School.
“I got a chance to work with some patients from the beginning of their rehabilitation,” Joseph said. “One of the patients I worked with was shot in the neck when he was 19. It took him three years to finish his last year of high school, but he did it. It makes you realize how hard it is to be disabled and survive in this world.”
Joseph is one of two students who chose physical medicine and rehabilitation, a small but growing specialty. “As a physician, you get to see the patients improve, and you get to be a part of that process.” Joseph would like to specialize in brain injury rehabilitation. For the first time in his life, he’ll move away from Texas to do his residency at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Tracy Byerly II, 26, is one of 11 students who will do residency training in emergency medicine – and he’ll do that right here at the UT Medical School. Byerly is no stranger to emergency rooms and doctors’ offices. Two days before his senior year of high school, Byerly wrecked his four-wheeler. He was traveling about 60 mph and wasn’t wearing a helmet when the four-wheeler rolled four times, then tossed him onto the pavement.
Byerly suffered multiple skull and rib fractures, minor bleeding and a broken wrist, arm and clavicle. The injuries were so severe that he couldn’t play baseball for the next seven months.
The accident, he said, turned out to be an opportunity for him to learn more about a variety of medical specialties. “I had to see so many doctors – neurologists, orthopedic surgeons,” Byerly said. “That experience really opened my eyes and painted a better picture of what it was like to be a doctor.”
Michael McKinney, M.D., chief operating officer at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, congratulated the seniors and delivered a message from Stanley G. Schultz, M.D., dean of the UT Medical School. Schultz is recovering from heart surgery at Memorial Hermann Hospital – Texas Medical Center and was unable to attend Match Day. “He sends his regards, best wishes and congratulations,” McKinney said.
Media Contact: Meredith Raine
Media Hotline: 713.500.3030