Dean's Newsletter

Archive of previous newsletters

Medical students meet their Match

March 29 , 2007

At the stroke of noon on March 15th, the next generation of doctors got their future handed to them in an envelope.  Fourth-year medical students at the University of Rochester, along with their colleagues across the country, opened a letter that held their destinies--the class of 2007 learned where they will be doing their residencies. 

In some medical schools, students gather in an auditorium and names are drawn from a hat, one by one.  This form of torture is, in some schools, called patience.  The most patient student, whose name is called last, sometimes gets to keep a pot of $1 dollar bills that have been left by all of the others. 

At the biopsychosocial home of human interaction, we don’t do it that way.  First, to break the tension, Dr. Lambert and key teaching faculty engage the students in a game of "Deal or no Deal" in the Class of ’62 Auditorium.  (Many commented on Dr. Lambert’s resemblance to Howie Mandell--but where was the earring?)  All of the envelopes are laid out on a table at the front of the auditorium; at the stroke of noon, and at their own pace, the students saunter up to the table with the envelopes.  Some slink away to a quiet corner to find out their destiny in silence.  Others open the envelope surrounded by family with a camera rolling.  That’s how we do it in Rochester—to each his or her own.

Well, how did they do?  Words cannot do justice to the reaction of our students.  Please check out the photos.  Suffice it to say that we had many, many joyous students, friends and families in the Class of ’62 on March 15th.  Never mind that our soon-to-be-graduates still have some work to do before Commencement.  And never mind that a good part of their time during their next chapter in the journey to clinical medicine will be spent as the scut puppy for upper-level residents and/or attendings.  This was a sweet moment—the culmination of much hard work and dedication.  The dream was materially closer to reality.

At the end of this newsletter is a listing of the residency placements for each of our graduating students.  Almost a third, we’re pleased to say, will be staying at the University of Rochester for their residencies.  The remainder, you will note, have matched to a cross-section of the finest training programs in the country, and have done so in a variety of specialties. 

In the next newsletter, I will provide a glimpse of the match from the viewpoint of our GME programs that receive medical students, whether from SMD or from other medical schools around the country.  This one, however, focuses on Match results for our own medical students.

I have asked a representative mix of our students to comment on what brought them to Rochester for medical school, how they chose their specialty, and how they chose their residency program.  Here are their stories:

Elijah Benioni
Hiking mountains to sparkling waterfalls, swimming off-shore to lofty sandbars, and late-night "crabbing" on secret black sand beaches were only a few of my favorite pastimes while growing up in Hawaii.  There was never a shortage of excitement.  Indoors, it was no different.  My parents, who were both professional performers, worked late into the evening.  Because of this, it was my responsibility to take care of life at home, including my grandmother.  Grandma Lola suffered from diabetes, renal failure, and COPD.  Complications of disease limited her amount of activity on most days so our quality time was mixed with long conversations, including stories about her days as a practicing nurse during Pearl Harbor and World War II.  Unfortunately, other times were less endearing.  During acute pulmonary exacerbations, she would wheeze until she could only gasp for air.  Prompt thought and action were imperative in relieving her symptoms, including administering home nebulizers and oxygen.  While frightening at the time, I now realize these experiences sparked my desire to become an emergency physician.  

Elijah Benioni

As the years progressed, I immersed myself in any medically related activity or subject.  Upon moving to Florida, I was accepted into a medical magnet high school that afforded me early exposure to nursing homes and emergency departments.  In addition to medicine, music became an outlet for the stress of academics.  I became one of the youngest principal saxophonists in Florida, as well as singer and dancer in Disney’s Showstoppers.   Upon graduation I was awarded to be one of Florida’s Presidential Scholars and was one of three to be accepted into the Music/Biology dual degree program as a premedical student at the University of Miami.  This was an exciting time for me--one week I would be studying for an anatomy test and the next week I was flying to Europe to tour with the London Symphony Orchestra. 

Upon matriculation to medical school, I was eager and ready to learn the art of medicine.  After four years of living in Miami, I was ready for a change, and, ready to escape the heat.  Throughout my undergrad studies in musical theatre, I made frequent trips to Broadway.  Therefore, New York seemed to be the most logical place to interview for medical school.  I interviewed at most of the Manhattan schools; however, something was missing.  A childhood friend, Illena Antonetti (URSMD ’06, UR Medicine Resident), convinced me to visit her at the University of Rochester.  I agreed for two reasons:  I knew the program was exquisite, and, I thought it would be funny to continue our streak of attending the same school since growing up (elementary, middle, high school and college).  I interviewed at the UofR in the dead of winter and stayed with Illena for a week.  I fell in love with the program and was completely sold!  I couldn’t believe how nice and welcoming everybody was here.  In addition, I loved the weather.  My family thinks I’m crazy. I’m probably the only Hawaiian on the planet who loves snow. 
 
Early in my second year, I worked on my first research project with a friend in the ED, which determined the specificity of the Woods Lamp Technique in the diagnosis of ethylene glycol poisoning.  Part of the study required obtaining urine samples from patients all over the ED.  Because of this, the nurses officially deemed us the WEE-WEE twins.  I always thought to myself, "Great, if med students don’t have it hard enough now I have to deal with this nickname." The study enabled me to see patients in the trauma bay, where I was revisited by the thrill of acute stabilization.  Equally important, this experience cultivated my appreciation for the art of emergency medicine, in which one must gain the trust of patients and families, in times of dire distress.  From this experience, I developed lasting mentorships with physicians in the ED and was given excellent learning experiences in the following years.  With practice and experience, my confidence in patient management and my clinical abilities greatly improved. At one point it hit me--the realization of how far I’d come.  At that point I also realized that I wanted to stay in Rochester for residency.  Everything I was looking for in a program was already here.

As medical school comes to an end I am sad to see so many wonderful friends move on to other residencies.  Some of our best times were traveling across the globe together during breaks, as well as seeing each one of us mature as clinicians.  This process was made easier, of course, by frequent visits to the wineries!  I look forward to the next chapter of my life but anticipate that not much will be different.  The nurses in the ED will probably still call me WEE-WEE and Illena will continue to laugh at me for following her to residency.

Craig Benson
I was born in rural North Dakota, but most of my childhood years were in Minnesota, where my family hails from originally.  We later moved to suburban Cleveland where I finished high school.  I attended Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland where I studied business and computer information systems.  The logic of computers had fascinated me ever since receiving a Commodore 64, an early personal computer, for my 8th birthday.  Following the steps of my father, I participated in college football at B-W and earned regional academic All-American honors playing for a nationally ranked football team.  At graduation, medicine was the last thing I envisioned doing.  Computers and sports had dominated my life to that point.  The only biology I took in college was "Plants and Their Culture (for the non-major)" and I sat in the back row!  However, I realized early into my first job as a computer administrator that my work needed a more human focus.  I learned of the burgeoning field of health informatics and became passionate about applying my computer background to improve health.  I entered graduate school in Health Informatics at the University of Minnesota, which is where I first considered medical school.  I volunteered in an emergency room and was increasingly attracted to the physician’s dual role of scientist and humanist.  I felt that being strictly an informaticist prevented me from connecting with patients.  I completed my pre-med coursework along with earning my Master's degree from Minnesota in 2001.  I then worked on informatics projects and received a fellowship in international health to work on a polio eradication project in Bangladesh before entering medical school in 2003.

Craig Benson

My ultimate decision on medical school did not come easily.  The application process made me question my motivation for wanting to become a physician and I was offered an informatics job.  I was ready to forgo medical school when the unexpected death of my aunt and my parents assuming the guardianship of her three teenage children made me re-evaluate my life's purpose.  Fortunately, my next and final interview was at Rochester.  My first attraction to Rochester was the innovative Double Helix curriculum that places students in contact with patients early in medical school.  I also liked that Rochester was the home of biopsychosocial medicine and supported the humanities within the curriculum.  During the interview day, Rochester stood out from other schools because of the down to earth and personable feel, no doubt influenced by Dr. Hansen's warm welcome.  I also appreciated the smaller class size and wide range of opportunities for students outside the classroom, including research, international health and community service.  The summer after my first year, I received an American Pediatric Society-Society for Pediatric Research fellowship to work in the lab of Rochester alumnus Robert Brent, MD, PhD, at the A.I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware.  One of the highlights of this experience was presenting a poster on our research at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ Annual Meeting and earning a Student Travel Award.  As a result of Dr. Brent's mentoring, I sought to expand the opportunities for medical students to connect with alumni while serving as the medical student representative to the School of Medicine and Dentistry Alumni Council.  Dr. Brent was extremely influential during my early medical school experience and went out of his way to make me feel like a part of the Rochester community.   

The early patient care exposure of the Double Helix curriculum had a major influence on my residency choice of Med-Peds and the decision to stay at Rochester.  As a second year medical student, I saw pediatric patients at the combined Med-Peds resident clinic on Culver Road.  What impressed me most about the experience was the enthusiasm for learning and the collegiality of the attending preceptors and residents.  I left with the sense of wanting to emulate many of the characteristics of the physicians at Culver.  As one of the original two Med-Peds residency in the country, started in 1967, the program at Rochester is highly regarded nationally and is strongly supported by both the Department of Medicine and Pediatrics.  The solid balance of specialty and non-specialty training is attractive to me since I am undecided at this point as to what my ultimate clinical career will be.  Dr. Robbins, the Program Director, was also influential; he is touted by many Med-Peds residency applicants who interview at Rochester as "the best residency director in Med-Peds!"  Another influence on me stay in Rochester was informatics.  I was excited to learn of the recent implementation of an electronic medical record at the Culver Clinic.  Additionally, after recently completing an elective in the Division of Medical Informatics, I now feel a sense of responsibility to help my fellow Rochester medical students and future residency colleagues to help improve the clinical information systems at Strong and Highland Hospitals.  Finally, my fiancée, Randi Potter, a PhD student in the Toxicology Department, also helped with the decision.  We both felt that the planning for our October wedding in Canandaigua would have been extremely difficulty if I was in a city other than Rochester!

Vincent Duron
An American citizen as of September 2006, I was born of French parents in London, England. At the age of five, my family moved to Mamaroneck, NY where I grew up. Looking for sunshine and granola bars, I went to Stanford University for college. I completed the pre-medical curriculum at Stanford and majored in Spanish Language and Literature, which allowed me to travel to Buenos Aires and embark on a career in international health. Since the age of twelve, when I had first heard my grandfather describe his life as a military doctor in Mali and Cameroon, medicine had been an inspiration.  I also loved teaching, and so, for three years following college, I continued educational work on HIV/AIDS and worked as a middle school teacher in Queens, NY and then Moscow, Russia.

Vincent Duron

As medicine’s resilient grasp strengthened, I applied to the University of Rochester School of Medicine, which attracted me for its wide opportunities in international health, early interaction with patients, and pro-active model of learning. I greatly enjoyed my time in the anatomy lab and the engaging conversations I had with my lab partners. I also loved the variety of clinical experiences I experienced during medical school, ranging from working one on one with Strong clinicians in their outpatient clinics to caring for complex and fascinating patients on the Burn Trauma ICU. Of course, I also valued the opportunity to work on health projects in Cameroon and Malawi, which I plan to continue during residency. I am most grateful for those inspiring professors, particularly Dr. Guttmacher and Dr. Stassen, who patiently guided and mentored me throughout these important years.

In the end, my love for anatomy and the challenge of incorporating medical management with surgical skill, leads me toward a career in surgery, which aligns perfectly with my overall career goals. Beyond my call to establish a French stronghold among Providence’s prominent Italian and Portuguese communities, I am drawn to our nation’s smallest state for the training offered by the Brown Surgery residency Program. Brown offers broad training to its residents, giving them experience in several surgical subspecialties in addition to the general surgery curriculum. They also rotate through a variety of different hospital settings, which will provide me with the comprehensive training I am seeking.

Barry Fields
My hometown is Wayne, NJ, a New York City suburb.  When not playing clarinet in my high school’s marching band, concert band, and woodwind ensemble, I spent several years volunteering in a local hospital. That experience helped shape my decision to attended Cornell University as a pre-medical psychology major. After spending part of my junior year in Great Britain studying the urban poor’s access to healthcare before the inception of universal health coverage, I returned to Cornell and began research in its sleep lab.  My senior honors thesis focused on memory consolidation during sleep onset and Stage 2 sleep, allowing me to learn more about what I’d be missing in medical school and beyond.  Aside from watching other people sleep, much of my time was spent supporting students as a peer counselor and trainer for future counselors.  That experience, along with continued coursework in psychology, helped foster my appreciation for a biopsychosocial approach to patient care.

Barry Fields

When applying to medical schools, Rochester stood out as the birthplace of that healthcare model.  I quickly found this philosophy to remain at the heart of medical education, interwoven within each strand of the Double Helix Curriculum.  Early patient contact, outstanding educational facilities, and faculty dedication also helped overshadow my general disdain for snow squalls in deciding to come here. Over the past four years, my position on class council and two Instruction Committees has provided me with a unique prospective on medical school curriculum and administration.  I particularly value those opportunities for allowing me to observe the importance our school places on its students’ feedback and overall educational mission.  Above all, however, it is the people – faculty, staff, and classmates – that have contributed most to my medical school experience and lifelong education.

I chose to specialize in internal medicine for its diversity both in patients and pathology.  Medicine also offers the extended patient contact I value, along with a broad evidence-base to draw upon while treating them.  Choosing among residency programs proved a much harder decision.  While I prepared to submit my rank list, however, I was reminded of a program director at the Yale Primary Care Program.  In the midst of introducing their biopsychosocial curriculum to a sea of applicants, he asked if anyone hailed from Rochester.  Only my hand rose.  He smiled and said, "Oh, so you were weaned on this stuff!"  Aside from this approach to care, I also found the program to contain the mix of academic and community settings I sought, all on the northeastern fringe of the New York City area.  Therefore, I am delighted to begin the next stage of my training in New Haven having multiple facets of a Rochester medical education from which to draw.

Michael Katz
I was raised as the only child of Marion and Armand Katz in the northern New Jersey town of Upper Montclair. During high school, my main interests were athletics and political science, focusing on lacrosse and Model United Nations, respectively. After high school, because of my strong interest in Medicine and science, I chose to participate in the Rochester Early Medical Scholars combined B.A.-M.D. program at University of Rochester. The prospect of eight years of Garbage Plates and Dinosaur BBQ was too much for me to turn down.  I received a B.A. in June 2003, with a double major in Biology and Health & Society. As an undergraduate, I worked on childhood vaccination epidemiologic research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eventually resulting in an Honors thesis.

Michael Katz

I became active in organized medicine soon after starting medical school as a continuation of my interest in health care policy and advocacy.  At the end of my first year, I was fortunate enough to be elected to the national Governing Council of the American Medical Association Medical Student Section, representing 50,000 medical students. More recently, I have had the opportunity to serve as the North Atlantic Representative on the American College of Physicians’ Council of Student Members and as a member of the ACP’s Publications Committee. One of my primary interests has been the teaching, monitoring, and evaluation of Professionalism at the medical school and institutional level.

After attending a stimulating second year lecture on COPD given by Dr. James White, I was thrilled to be able to spend my summer conducting bench research in his lab examining the role of Tissue Factor in a model for Primary Pulmonary Hypertension. Early in my third year, I rotated through Dr. John Bisognano’s hypertension clinic as part of an elective. With Dr. Bisognano’s guidance and mentorship, I had the chance to work with several Fellows in Cardiology to conduct a small retrospective chart review of medications and treatment outcomes of patients with resistant hypertension. Exciting rotations in the Cardiac Care Unit with Dr. Joseph Delehanty and on the Cardiology Consult service with Dr. Ronald Schwartz solidified my interest in Medicine and in Cardiology. In selecting a residency training program, I eventually sought an environment similar to that of University of Rochester, which fostered hands-on training, leadership, and academic excellence. I was extremely happy to match at Duke University, although, of course, I will miss Rochester’s tropical climate.

Brooke Shuster
I am originally from Cheshire, Connecticut, and knew very early that I wanted to be a physician.  I was therefore very pleased to be accepted into the Rochester Early Medical Scholars program.  As a REMS student, I graduated from the University of Rochester in May 2002 with a B.A. in Religion and Classics, and became a medical student at the U of R in August of 2002.  Early on in my medical education, I developed a keen interest in Pediatrics, and in particular, serving the medically underserved. These interests have guided my path for the past four years, and have led me to the doorstep of Georgetown University Hospital.

Brooke Shuster

During my time in medical school, I became interested in ethnic health disparities. After returning from a trip to Chile in my first year, where I conducted research in childbirth practices, Adrienne Allen (another student in my class) and I developed the Latino Health Curriculum.  This new addition to the undergraduate medical education curriculum has become an elective four-year longitudinal pathway for students interested in learning medical Spanish and applying these skills to the care of Spanish-speaking patients.  In addition, I received a Medical Humanities Fellowship to conduct a year of research in New Zealand, focusing on the health disparities experienced by the indigenous Maori population.  Importantly, to achieve a balance in mind and body, during the nine years that I have lived in Rochester, I continued my training in classical ballet, which has been a long-time interest since the age of 2.

As a result of my various international experiences, as well as working with underserved groups locally, I came to realize that all children are in need of strong advocates.  Pediatrics seemed to best fit my personal strengths as well as my academic interests; during my year in New Zealand, I therefore decided to apply for Pediatrics residency positions upon my return to the States.  However, this was not easy!  Pediatrics residency programs come in all shapes and sizes, and it was difficult to determine which programs would best suit my preferences.  I decided to apply and interview at a variety of programs, across the country.  After 12 interviews, I realized that the best "match" for me would be a program whose philosophy was in line with my own. 

When I walked into Georgetown University Hospital, I knew that I had found my niche.  Dr. Wolfgang Rennert, the residency program director at Georgetown, announced to all of the applicants that every resident in his program would go abroad for at least 2 months during residency.  This was truly music to my ears, since I had always believed that experiencing other cultures would make me a better advocate for my patients.  Additionally, after a full day of interviews and a "second look" day at Georgetown, I felt confident that I would receive excellent General Pediatrics training, as well as have the opportunity to work with some of the most underserved populations in the country.  Ultimately, I knew that Georgetown would prepare me for any career I might choose after residency: general Pediatrics, subspecialty work, or even academics.  Dr. Rennert’s program easily became my first choice and I was thrilled to open my envelope on Match Day and read the bold print: GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL – Pediatrics. 

Briana Southerland
I was born to Loretta and Gilbert Southerland on April 20th, 1981 in my hometown, Bronx, New York. Growing up in New York City as a young child allowed me the opportunity to interact with people from all walks of life and become the "people person" that I am today. At the age of 12, just as I was beginning junior high school and my older brother was starting high school, my parents decided to buy another house in "The Poconos", PA, a popular vacation spot for my family and many New Yorkers. Though I thought my life was truly over and that I would never speak to my parents again, I now realize that living in and being able to adapt in such a different environment helped prepare me for my college career and my future as a physician. As one of the only African-Americans in my high school, I learned how to continue to be true to myself and my heritage while striving to be the best I could be. I managed to excel and went on to become a role model student for students from all backgrounds, which made me and my parents very proud. I also managed to maintain the household, as my parents often stayed in my NY home as my brother and I got older and the daily commute became even more tiring for them.  This experience allowed me to develop my time-management and practical life skills as well. Using what my parents taught me, I managed to keep a level head and treat others as I wanted to be treated. I have used and plan to use this framework as the foundation for how I practice medicine in the future.

Briana Southerland

I have lived in and loved Rochester for almost 8 years now while I received my college and medical school education. I was attracted to Rochester because of its environment and reputation for creating students who were citizens of the world and individuals not afraid to think outside of the box. Being part of the Rochester Early Medical Scholars Program (REMS), an 8 year B.A./M.D. program with a guaranteed spot in the medical school didn’t hurt either. I can honestly say that I do not think I would have been happier at another institution. The friendships formed with both students and faculty alike during my time in the city that I have learned to love will be an experience that I will take with me forever. The love and support from the Rochester community that I have gotten to know and be a part of through my outreach efforts deserves some of the highest thanks of all, for it was these wonderful citizens who allowed me to develop my skills as a physician and encouraged me to "do it for all of us".

Loving people, especially those who may have been forgotten by society, has made emergency medicine a perfect fit for me. Not only do I get to surround myself constantly with people from different backgrounds, but I am in a part of the hospital that "never sleeps", similar to my life in "the city that never sleeps," which I frequent often. Practicing emergency medicine allowed me to continue to live by the motto "work hard, play hard" as I have tried to do throughout life. Working in the emergency department allows me not only to practice adult and pediatric medicine, but to tackle some of the public health issues and social ills often encountered in the ED. I love the easy-going, humorous nature of many of the physicians I have encountered during my emergency medicine training and am excited about working with them in the future. Though I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here at Rochester and will miss it dearly, I am looking forward to my new adventure in another big city with great pizza (though a bit more quiet!) and many interesting people and no doubt, lots of emergencies, that will hopefully remind me of hometown that I left so long ago.  For these reasons, I was very excited to open my envelope and find that I will be going to the University of Chicago to do my residency in emergency medicine.

View the Class of 2007 – Post Graduate Appointment List

Meliora,

David S. Guzick, MD, PhD
Dean, School of Medicine and Dentistry