Texas Tech's Match Day brings cheers

Mar. 18—Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine students got their own taste of March Madness when they learned where they would go for their medical residency.

Eighteen students were matched, which Regional Dean Dr. Timothy Benton said is about the regular number. The ritual where all was revealed was held Friday at the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center. Students were surrounded by family and friends who anxiously awaited the results.

Match Day is an annual event that takes place on medical school campuses nationwide. Match results are sealed in an envelope and opened simultaneously at all of the nation's medical schools, as students learn where they will spend the next three to seven years of their residency training, a news release said.

Benton said medical school typically lasts four years, although it can be three if they are in an accelerated program.

The COVID-19 pandemic required changes to medical schools across the country with the 2022 residency recruitment, interview and match processes. Due to the pandemic, this is the first class of students that completed their residency match without physically visiting the program location, the release said.

Students applied to residency programs in their preferred specialties and visited sites virtually to evaluate and ultimately rank their preferred residency programs. The National Resident Matching Program coordinates this process, which is designed to produce results for students to fill the thousands of training positions available at U.S. teaching hospitals, the release said.

Benton said this group was very successful in the match.

"Many have accomplished research projects and published papers, which would be in addition to their regular curricular work, classroom and clinical operations," Benton said.

Michael Callaway, assistant dean for undergraduate medical education, said the students' curriculum was different.

"They were forced to go to pass/fail in the third year, which ... everybody was concerned (about). Without ways to distinguish yourself, how are you going to impress program directors? Turns out ... probably a lot of the country had to do various things like that, too, because they had to do various things to adapt and adjust," Callaway said.

"This class has been pretty impressive in terms of, they've had to be way more adaptable than than most classes. I have to give them props, and they were successful in the match. Nobody seemed to have been harmed by it. I think we all got a great education ...," he added.

Grading is already back to the tiered grading system. It was pass/fail for the third year, Callaway said.

"That was just when the pandemic first started, they had to start doing more and more stuff virtually. We had to do, basically exams via Zoom for instance, ... because we couldn't do very much in person other than that direct patient care. Obviously, that continued the way it was. There was a lot of anxiety about a lot of things ... so we felt the best way to deal with that was simply to go to the pass/fail and really focus on the learning and not so much on the assessment and the grading and basically, rank ordering people, things like that. From an educational perspective, it was probably a good thing," Callaway said.

Benton said Friday was a "fantastic, fabulous day" that the students have spent their lives to this point working for.

In the 28 years since his Match Day, Benton said his reward has come over and over.

"... And so I hope you'll cherish this moment and cherish that thought of service to people ...," Benton said.

Jeanette Cala was matched to family medicine at Texas Tech Health Sciences in Odessa.

"It was my first choice. Doing my clinical rotations here in Odessa made me really want to do my residence here, as well, because I felt like Texas Tech really embodies interprofessional education ...," Cala said.

As a medical student, she said she got to work with nursing and physician assistant students from Texas Tech, University of Texas Permian Basin, Odessa and Midland College.

She added that Texas Tech offered a great learning experience.

Originally from the Philippines, Cala's family moved to Pecos eight years ago.

"But I really like West Texas, and after residency, I would like to stay in Texas," she said.

Cala added that she grew up in a rural community so she was drawn to family medicine.

She said she enjoyed attending Texas Tech Health Sciences.

"I've worked with some of the residents here, the family medicine residents, and they really help each other and I already have seniors that said they will help me when I start residency in July," Cala said.

Amanda Bell, from Greenwood, was matched to internal medicine at Texas Tech in Lubbock.

"I'm really excited. Lubbock was my top choice," Bell said. "I wanted to stay in West Texas. I really love the program director up there ... and so I'm really excited that I get to stay near to family and stay in my West Texas community and get to be in a familiar place with familiar faces," Bell said.

She added that the school of medicine program gave her a lot of opportunities that she might not have gotten at a larger medical center.

"Because we have a lot of faculty that are from the community, or they just volunteer their time from the community to take students without actually being on the faculty, they're very invested in their patients and in teaching upcoming physicians to care for those patients in the future," Bell said.

She added that internal medicine is "kind of the meat of medicine."

"I'm wanting to go into cardiology out of that, so that will be an additional fellowship on top of it. But it's something that I've always enjoyed from the start of medical school. It's kind of where I always pictured myself going into. I think it's just the best way that I can use the talents I've been given to help the people around me," Bell added.

Nathan Von Roeder, who is from Snyder, brought his wife, Devan, to the Wagner Noel for the surprise. Von Roeder's specialty will be general surgery and he was matched to St. Joseph Hospital in Denver.

"I'm super excited. That was our number one (choice)," Von Roeder said.

He added that the program at Texas Tech has been awesome.

"You do two years in Lubbock and then you move to Midland and they kind of split us out and you don't really know what to expect. And the Permian Basin campus has just been such a blessing for both me and my wife. The school itself has just been really taking the time to train up good physicians and the community has been awesome. We found community with Redeemer Midland Church and we've made some really good friends that makes us sad to leave the Permian Basin at this point," Von Roeder said.

Having grown up on a ranch, he added that he has always liked working with his hands.

"I love being able to see a problem and immediately do something to fix it. General surgery tends to do that and just having the capability to approach almost any problem because usually the most sick patients need surgery in some respect," Von Roeder said.

Kristine Chen was matched to family medicine at Texas Tech in Midland.

"I'm really, really excited. I matched into family medicine, so I couldn't be happier," said Chen, who is from the Austin area.

Family medicine for Chen combines a lot of her interests.

"Obviously, I have been interested in service for a really long time, but I also like working with a diverse range of populations, so I like working with kids. I also loved geriatrics and adults. It really combines a lot of my passions together and serving the community, as well," she added.

Chen said she has loved it in West Texas and noted that Texas hospitality is amplified in the region.

"Everyone really cares for one another and I do love the community here," Chen said.

She added that their schooling was impacted by COVID.

"We had to switch to online schooling and I know a lot of our peers had their rotations impacted by that clinically. So that was a bit of a challenge for us. But I think coming out of it, we really understood what healthcare workers on the front lines were dealing with. And of course, they were even more impacted than we were. As students, we kind of took a backseat to that," Chen said.

She added that the program at Texas Tech was "great." She made a lot of friends and got to know and get close to many classmates.

"But also the education here, we're really well supported through the faculty and the admin. They've always asked us what feedback we can give and what improvements they can make for the classes going forward. So I feel like we've been really well supported here," Chen said.