UT Medical School seniors meet their match
Students learn during Match Day where they will train as residents
HOUSTON – (March 20, 2009) – For medical students, selecting the area of medicine they ultimately want to practice often comes down to one defining moment.
Darrell Wilcox’ commitment to preserving life and health began as a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger on the battlefield and his decision to become an anesthesiologist was confirmed years later as he watched his mentor comfort a patient who desperately needed surgery.
Allison Boyle’s decision to specialize in the care of patients with brain injuries was shaped by a devastating stroke her mother suffered in 2007.
Members of the Class of 2009 celebrate Match Day in Webber Plaza.
Breaking his nose while surfing led Chad Whited to the UT Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery clinic. Breaking his nose again during a skiing accident clinched his choice to become an ear, nose and throat specialist.
These students, along with nearly 200 fellow seniors at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, came a step closer to fulfilling their career ambitions Thursday when they participated in Match Day.
Match Day, an annual event coordinated by the National Resident Matching Program, is its own defining moment as seniors at every medical school in the country simultaneously open envelopes to reveal where they will do their residencies.
This year, nearly 30,000 applicants, including more than 15,000 U.S. medical school seniors, competed for more than 22,000 residency positions.
“Match Day often shapes the remainder of our students’ medical careers in a way that no other single subsequent event can,” said Giuseppe Colasurdo, M.D., dean of the UT Medical School at Houston. “I am confident the training and values they have received at the medical school have laid a strong foundation and will serve them in the next step of their chosen profession.”
For the 191 UT Medical School at Houston students who are graduating in May, internal medicine, anesthesiology, obstetrics-gynecology and pediatrics are among the top picks for residency training. Fifty-six percent will stay in Texas for at least their first year of residency, and 30 percent will stay at UT Medical School at Houston programs. Almost 40 percent are entering primary care residencies in internal medicine, family medicine, medicine-pediatrics, pediatrics and obstetrics-gynecology.
Larry R. Kaiser, M.D., president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, congratulated the students. “It’s a great day,” Kaiser said. “A lot of you are staying in Texas, and we’re very pleased about that.” Stanley G. Schultz, M.D., former dean of the UT Medical School at Houston, echoed Kaiser’s sentiments. “I know wherever you go, you are going to make us proud,” he said.
When Allison Boyle opened her envelope to reveal that she would be doing her neurology residency at the UT Medical School at Houston, the woman who inspired her career path was by her side. Boyle was three weeks in to her internal medicine rotation when her mother, Patricia Davis, suffered a severe stroke. The brain attack caused paralysis and loss of speech, and Boyle and her three brothers now care for their mother around the clock at the family’s home in Kingwood. “I was already leaning toward the neurosciences, and when she had the stroke, it became clear that this is what I’m supposed to do,” Boyle said. “I don’t just want to save lives. I want to improve the quality of my patients’ lives.” The Student Affairs staff at the medical school helped Boyle make arrangements so that her mother and brothers could be with her to celebrate Match Day. “My mom’s speech was affected, but cognitively she is OK,” Boyle said. “She may have a hard time saying it, but I know she is proud.”
Chad Whited
Class president Chad Whited is following his nose to a career in otorhinolaryngology. During medical school, he broke his nose twice in separate sporting accidents. It not only gave him a patient perspective, but also landed him an invitation to shadow residents who were completing their training as ear, nose and throat specialists. Working with Samer Fakhri, M.D., during his clinical rotation and conducting research with Martin Citardi, M.D., chairman of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, confirmed his decision to specialize in this area of medicine. “The great thing about medicine is that there is a field for everyone,” said Whited, the 2005 recipient of the UT Medical School at Houston Alumni Foundation Scholarship. “For me, ENT combines what I love. I can build relationships with patients in the clinic and also operate.” Whited will join Wilcox at Duke for his residency training.
Gaia Muallem, who will do her residency at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va., is among students pursuing careers in internal medicine. As the daughter of a Dallas scientist, Muallem was exposed to research and medicine at an early age. As she assisted in her father’s laboratory, she found it exhilarating to be a part of work that could one day lead to important medical breakthroughs. When her uncle, Menachem Muallem, was diagnosed with a form of cancer called multiple myeloma, the importance of medical research took on a more personal meaning. “He is a big part of why I want to be a doctor,” she said. “He’s always on my mind when I talk to a patient or a family.” Muallem said she chose internal medicine because it so seamlessly combines research and clinical care. “I’ll be able to see patients and conduct research, and that’s important to me.”
Laura Morgan
Laura Morgan, who is originally from El Paso, also is entering an internal medicine residency. Unlike the majority of her classmates who were kept in suspense until Thursday, Morgan was in the Military Match and already knew that she’ll be heading to San Diego for her training after graduation. Morgan, who was the top graduate in the UCLA Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps before beginning her studies at the UT Medical School at Houston, will provide medical care to active duty Navy personnel, their families and retirees. “I like the idea of gathering data like a detective and putting it all together to form a diagnosis,” she said. Morgan, a scholarship recipient and an accomplished violinist who played in the Doctors Orchestra of Houston for four years, is the first in her family to become a physician. After her internship, she plans on pursuing flight surgery before returning to her internal medicine residency.
Morgan’s classmate, Humberto Villarreal, also was in the Military Match and will train first as a general surgeon and then as a urologist in San Antonio. Villarreal, who was born in Laredo and lived across the border in Mexico for much of his childhood, said his four years at the UT Medical School at Houston presented many opportunities. That is where the class senator learned urology combines the elements of surgery and continued patient care he enjoys. It also is where he met Diana DeRosa, a M.D./Ph.D. student at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Many of the dates leading up to their wedding in January were at the medical school’s Learning Resource Center and Café Hermann in Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center “I couldn’t have gotten where I am without the support of my family and my wife,” Villareal said. “Match Day is a celebration of that success.” While DeRosa is completing her studies, Villarreal plans to commute between San Antonio and their home in the Museum District. “It will take some sacrifice, but these are great opportunities for both of us, and it will be worth it.”
Allison DeGreeff
Allison DeGreeff, who grew up in Kingwood, learned today that she will do her anesthesiology residency at Colorado. She said she was drawn to the field in part because of the UT anesthesiologists she had the opportunity to work with during a clinical rotation at Memorial Hermann – TMC. “Everyone loves their job, and their enthusiasm is infectious.” The experience inspired her to serve as an anesthesia technician in 2006 at the hospital and conduct research under the supervision of Carin Hagberg, M.D., chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. DeGreeff helped develop a guide for other students who are entering their anesthesiology rotations. This year, she also helped organize an anesthesiology training session for students in the medical school’s Surgical and Clinical Skills Center. “Anesthesiology allows you to be hands-on in the operating room while applying all your knowledge about medicine and disease,” she said. “I am so excited to start my residency so I can start seeing patients.”
Darrell W. Wilcox got his first choices. He will do his first year of training at The Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center and will then move with his family to North Carolina for his anesthesiology residency at Duke University Medical Center. Wilcox has a keen understanding of the challenges and sacrifices that often come with the pursuit of goals. Wilcox, who grew up in Houston’s Oak Forest neighborhood, joined the Army after high school. At the time, he had never considered becoming a doctor. He had never even considered college. During a conflict in Panama in 1989, that all changed in a moment. He was wounded in combat and watched as the medics tried unsuccessfully to revive a comrade. “That was a life-changing moment,” Wilcox said. “I knew I wanted to do something that was the polar opposite of all the death and destruction that surrounded me. I wanted to help people and promote life.” It has been a long journey. He worked two to three jobs at a time while raising a family and attending the University of Houston-Downtown at night to earn a degree in computer information systems. He knew he wouldn’t be able to work while he was attending medical school, and he wasn’t sure how the family would stay financially afloat during those four years he was without a paycheck. “We took a leap of faith, and we’ve never looked back,” said Wilcox, a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the 2005 recipient of the M.D. Anderson Scholarship Award. “It’s all worked out.” He said his experience in the military and as a manager in the workforce taught him the leadership, focus and discipline he needed to be successful in medical school. And it was Hagberg who taught him how intensely rewarding it can be to earn patients’ trust and ease their anxiety so that lifesaving interventions can be performed. Wilcox said that even though it’s been a rough road at times, being an example for his children has helped him stay on track. “Attending medical school has been a way for me to reset the bar for my kids,” Wilcox said. “Before, no one in my family had ever earned an advanced degree, so it wasn’t expected. I’m changing that. My kids know it is expected that they go to college. They can become a professional. I’m proof that it’s possible.”
Shaun Varghese and Cristina Marchesano
Shaun Varghese and Cristina Marchesano paired up for this year’s Couples Match. This process allows couples to design their primary rank order lists so they can match to residency programs at the same institution or in the same region. Varghese, the 2004 recipient of the Bryant Boutwell, Dr.P.H. and John P. McGovern, M.D, Scholarship, already knew that he’ll be staying at the UT Medical School at Houston for his residency in child neurology, a specialty that matched its applicants to training programs earlier this year. Varghese originally considered a career in surgery, but once he saw UT child neurologists interacting with their patients, he knew he wanted to join them in helping young patients with epilepsy and other neurological conditions. Marchesano and her family in Sugar Land were keeping their fingers crossed that she’d be able to stay in the Houston region with Varghese for her pediatrics residency. She got her wish. She’ll begin her pediatrics residency this summer at the UT Medical School at Houston. “I feel like I have a special connection with children, and when I did my pediatrics rotation, I absolutely loved it,” she said. “It didn’t feel like work to me.” Varghese and Marchesano began dating during their second year of medical school and last fall Varghese popped the question. They are planning their wedding day for next year.
Answering the nation’s need for more primary care physicians, Kristen Stegemoller is entering John Peter Smith Hospital’s family medicine residency program. Stegemoller, who grew up in Nederland, hopes to eventually set up a rural practice where she can take care of patients and give back to her community. “My favorite aspect of family medicine, especially rural medicine, is the diversity of what you can do as a physician,” said Stegemoller, co-president and service chair of the Family Medicine Student Association. “You are able to see your patients in the clinic, the emergency room and the hospital and perform preventative care procedures such as colonoscopies. Family physicians are also able to see patients from before their birth to the end of their life. This amount of continuity of care allows family physicians to be extremely valuable members of the communities where they live and work and to be crucial components in the lives of their patients. All of these elements confirmed my decision to go into rural family medicine.”
Antonio Barksdale and family.
Antonio Barksdale, who is from Greenville, TX, also plans to practice family medicine and will do his residency at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. A 2006 Houston Medical Forum Scholar and a licensed minister of the Church of God in Christ, Barksdale said growing up in a lower socioeconomic neighborhood and losing his mother in a car accident when he was a teen-ager helped to define his callings to medicine and to the church. “Everyone is seeking to find the rhythm of their individual lives wherein their strengths, gifts and commitments harmonize to the melody of the larger purpose,” he said. “A sound primary care doctor has found this rhythm in the clinical challenges of competently managing a vast range of medical scenarios and catering to a varied patient population. As an aspiring family physician, I am motivated by the grand task of screening for deadly disease, supporting health maintenance and providing the frontline management of any medical condition.” Barksdale, who initiated the school’s Fellowship of Christian Medical Students, hopes to stay in Texas to practice medicine. His wife, Chamiera, and their 1-year-old son, Luke, were with him on Match Day to celebrate.
Angela Cade and son.
For Angela Cade, family medicine is truly about family. “It is in my blood, I suppose. I couldn’t decide between pediatrics and geriatrics, and family medicine allows you to do both, plus everything in between, so I’m following in my father’s footsteps. He has a family practice in Tyler, and my mom is a registered nurse,” she said. Cade said the opportunity to work with a general internal medicine physician during a summer break, her family medicine rotation during her third year of medical school and even her own growing family confirmed that primary care was the best fit for her. Cade, a wife and mother of two, hopes other medical students will discover all that family medicine has to offer. “I am hopeful that primary care will go through a transformation that allows us to provide the best care to more people and inspires more medical students to pursue careers in primary care,” she said. Cade will do her residency at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler.
After nine years, Amir Mohsenin is graduating from the UT Health Science Center at Houston’s M.D./Ph.D program, and as he ends that journey, he’ll begin two more. He will spend the first year of his training at the UT Medical School at Houston before beginning the ophthalmology residency program at Yale University in June of 2010. He and his wife also will celebrate the birth of their first child this month. “I can’t believe I’m finally graduating.” Mohsenin said. “Now, I’m looking forward to becoming a father and starting my career.” In addition to his four years in medical school, Mohsenin, the son of two physicians, completed four years of Ph.D. training and one year as a postdoctoral fellow investigating asthma and emphysema in the laboratory of Michael Blackburn, Ph.D., director of the UT Medical School at Houston’s Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Graduate Program. With numerous scientific publications under his belt, Mohsenin commented, “I love making original discoveries that have the potential to lead to better patient care, and I plan to continue this passion with a career in academic medicine.”
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Here are some of the most popular areas of medicine and the number of UT Medical School students entering those residency programs:
| Internal medicine | 25 |
Radiology-Diagnostic | 13 |
| Anesthesiology | 20 |
Emergency Medicine | 10 |
| Obstetrics-Gynecology | 16 |
Family Medicine | 9 |
| Pediatrics | 16 |
Surgery | 14 |