School of Medicine Class of 2022 Gathers on Campus to Celebrate Match Day
Medical Students Marked Milestone in Their Journeys to Becoming Physicians
Members of the School of Medicine (SOM) Class of 2022 had the opportunity to celebrate Match Day in person this year – for the first time since the pandemic began – as they gathered in the radiant sunshine outside the Medical Education Center (MEC) on March 18, to learn where they were matched to medical residency programs.
The atmosphere outside MEC was electric as students anxiously awaited noon when they could at last tear open their envelopes to find out where they will take the next step in their medical education training. The results of the National Resident Matching Program are disclosed simultaneously at medical schools around the country. When the time to learn their match results came, the atmosphere quickly transformed to one of celebration – with shouts of happiness filling the air.
“I’m thrilled to have matched at my number one choice, Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach.,” said Nicole Matluck, SOM Class of 2022, who matched in urology. “It has been a really long journey, and I am so happy to be here with my friends, my peers. The look of elation on everyone’s faces when the envelopes were first opened is something I will remember the rest of my life. I cannot believe we will be doctors in a couple of months. The excitement is just unparalleled. I have never felt anything like this before.”
“I couldn’t be happier to have matched at Mount Sinai Hospital and to be able to stay in New York close to my family and friends,” said Marissa Contento, SOM Class of 2022, who matched in internal medicine. “Mount Sinai has a great program. There is just such a flood of emotions right now and it feels amazing.”
“This is one of the most exciting days of my life,” said Daniel Bowen, SOM Class of 2022, who matched in psychiatry at Naval Medical Center in San Diego. “This is a day where it seems like the world around you just stop, and it’s wonderful to be here with my classmates experiencing this tremendous joy.”
This year was the largest match ever. NYMC medical students will be training in 25 states at 105 different institutions. Some were matched at NYMC’s affiliate hospitals—Westchester Medical Center, NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, Greenwich Hospital, Lenox Hill Hospital, Richmond University Medical Center and Landmark Medical Center—as well as other research-intensive, academic medical centers across the country, including two hospitals of the Harvard Medical School System (Massachusetts General and Beth Israel-Deaconess), Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Brown, Dartmouth, Emory, Mount Sinai, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Weil Cornell, New York University, Tufts, UCLA and Yale.
The top career choices for the Class of 2022 were internal medicine, pediatrics, general surgery, radiology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedic surgery, neurology and urology.
During the event, several members of the SOM administration offered their congratulations. SOM Dean Jerry Nadler, M.D., MACP, FAHA, FACE said, “This match day is made even more meaningful as we celebrate the accomplishment and future of our wonderful students who have endured years of this pandemic. You showed outstanding resiliency, flexibility and support for each other. Despite all the challenges of no away rotations or in-person interviews, you did extremely well in attaining wonderful residency spots to continue your career. Please never forget the values you have learned at NYMC especially compassion, humanism and the desire to address health inequalities and support diversity and inclusion. Listen to your patients and have compassion for their caregivers as well.”
“You are on your path to be resident physicians in just a few months. How incredibly exciting that is,” said Jane Ponterio, M.D., senior associate dean for student affairs. “Remember it is one thing to be accomplished and yet another to be valuable. You are accomplished, now it is time to be valuable—valuable to your program director, valuable to your team and most importantly, valuable to your patients.”
“More significant than even graduation day, this is the day that you're closest to establishing your professional presence,” said Jennifer Koestler, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education. “The close bonds that we have developed since you joined the NYMC community are ever-present. I am thrilled that we can celebrate this important day together. What an honor it has been to see you grow personally and professionally. Regardless of the location of your match, you should all celebrate your success today. This milestone represents another step towards fulfilling your dreams—which will no doubt involve changing our healthcare system for the better.”
Mill Etienne, M.D. '02, M.P.H., FAAN, FAES, vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, associate dean of student affairs, toasted the Class of 2022. “You have braved the storm, you are battle tested, and you have matched! Let us all lift our glasses up to celebrate the Class of 2022,” Dr. Etienne said.
The students also expressed their gratitude to NYMC for the education they had received to prepare them for this next step in their careers. “I am honored to have been educated and trained at NYMC,” said Aitan Magence, SOM Class of 2022. “I am fortunate to have received a first-class medical education from brilliant and caring faculty and clinicians, in a warm and friendly environment. I am truly grateful to my advisors and all of the deans, faculty, staff and students who have made this journey to unforgettable. I will miss the day-to-day interactions, but I will always be a part of the NYMC family. I am excited to start the next chapter of my career in pediatrics at Westchester Medical Center.
Videos of Match Day and other SOM events are available on the NYMC YouTube channel.
