Illinois Medicine

Matches Around the Map The College of Medicine's regional campuses also hosted Match Day events, joining in the national ritual of setting fourth- for M4s year medical students off into their careers as physicians. The College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign hosted its event at local restaurant Biaggi's letter in the air triumphantly, then embraced his mother sitting next to him. Gibson was matched to a pathology residency at his first choice, North- Shore Evanston Hospital, where he'd interviewed in the last week of the selection season after choosing his specialty late. "I grew up there. It's like a homecoming," he said. His emotion quickly spread through the room, as the opening of each student's letter was most often met with exultation. Soon a steady buzz of excited conversation built, punctuated by cries of joy, as students began mingling with each other and sharing their good news. David Kim was another of the many students who matched with their first choice program, in his case Harvard Medical School-affil- iated Massachusetts General Hospital, where he'll be an anesthesiology resident. "The college offers you every opportunity available," he said. "It's a great place and it opens all the doors for you." Teverbaugh also matched into her first choice, Tulane University Hospital and Clinics in New Orleans. "We did well as a class," she said. "Everyone worked so hard. We have huge hearts and we're going to do so well." Born April 5, baby Audrey Decker will grow up in Albuquerque, where her parents will undertake their residencies at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, the Deckers' first choice. "I'm really impressed with our class overall," Michael Decker said. "As we go on to im- press, it'll open up opportunities for the students who come after us. People will know how good a medical school U of I was for us." Ristorante Italiano. Twenty-five students received the letters with their assignments as they arrived and opened them at 11. After taking some time to talk with family members, many of whom accompanied the students, they were asked to come forward, announce their residency match and place a photo of themselves on a map to indicate where they would be receiving their training. Urbana's program was streamed live so that friends and family could virtually share their students' excitement. Jennifer Cash, a native of St. Louis and a Cardinals baseball fan, announced that her husband was thrilled with Jennifer's emergency medicine match at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. Ironically, husband Tim is happy to be moving closer to one of his pas- sions—Wrigley Field and the Cubs. It is not only politics that make for strange bedfellows. After opening her envelope, class valedictorian Jill Gunther '04, PhD '09, MD '12, proudly an- nounced that she would enter her 13th year in Urbana-Champaign as a preliminary medicine resident in the College of Medicine at Urbana Internal Medicine Residency Program. Gunther spent her time in Urbana completing bachelor's, PhD and medical studies. She will finally leave the familiar confines of Urbana-Champaign to train in radiation oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. A hush fell in the dining room of Peoria's WeaverRidge Golf Club at 11, followed quickly by the sound of tearing paper as 40 College of Medicine at Peoria students simultaneously opened their envelopes. Another moment of silence quickly gave way to cheers, applause and tears of all sorts. Sara Rusch, MD, Res '81, regional dean of the college, could have been speaking for all graduat- ing Illinois Medicine students when she addressed the gathering before the envelopes were opened. "The choice that you open in that envelope will make a difference in your future—it's most likely where you will practice, in fact," Rusch said, noting that she had expected to return to her home state, Wisconsin, after completing her residency in Peoria but fell in love with the community and stayed. "But what you do when you get there will depend entirely on you. What happens when you get there depends on your energy, your enthusiasm [and] your willingness to work hard," Rusch contin- ued. "May your envelope be a doorway to your dreams." The College of Medicine at Rockford held its ceremony in the Partners' Pavilion on the Rockford campus. The 51 students were called to the pavilion stage to receive the letter with their assignments. After opening the letter, they announced their specialty, the institution where they were assigned their residency and its location, and then placed a pin on that spot on a map displayed on the stage. "Over the years, we feel that our students have done well in the match," said Martin Lipsky, MD, regional dean, before taking the stage to begin the announcements. The students matched in 15 spe- cialties in 18 states, including four who matched in the highly competitive specialty of ophthalmology. Katie Winkler, who matched to Wayne State University in Detroit, and MacNeal Hospital in Ber- wyn, Ill., wanted to develop both clinical and surgical skills, but she had the additional influence of her father and brother being ophthalmologists "so I guess it's something that has always been an interest to me." Rebecca Sorenson, of Orinda, Calif., said she thinks getting into ophthalmology is so competitive because of the flexibility it offers. "You could go into academic medicine, you can go into research, you can go into teaching or you can go into private practice," she said. "I'm also going into interna- tional medicine, so I hope to take ophthalmology abroad and serve several areas." The final match of the day, and the $250 contributed $5 at a time by his classmates, went to Clay Carmody of Fullerton, Calif., who matched in orthopaedic surgery to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Carmody said his interest in medicine dates way back. "I've been interested in it since I was a young age, and the more I learned about it the more I realized it was what I wanted to do." — Kevin McKeough ILLINOIS MEDICINE | 13

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