An important journey is about to begin for the members of the School of Medicine Class of 2019, as they open white envelopes on Friday, March 15, to find out where they will serve their residencies and embark on their careers as physicians. In advance of the highly anticipated day, four graduating students shared their stories in the latest Voices of UMassMed podcast.
“For me, opening the envelope, I am feeling pretty Zen about it,” said Sana Majid, who is matching in radiology.
“I’m hoping that I don’t cry too much, and I know I’ll be happy,” said Katherine Mallett, who is matching in orthopedics.
Majid, Mallett and fellow students Maxwell Kruse and Anthony Tran reflect on their uncertain path to medical school. They also offer insight for perspective students about life at medical school, share how UMass Medical School has prepared them for real world challenges they will soon face as physicians, and describe many surprises they learned along the way.
“I’ve loved every second of it. Some of my closest friends are my classmates in medical school. I was definitely not expecting that, and we have an incredible community here,” said Kruse, a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force who matched through the military into emergency medicine.
“I went in with all these preconceived notions of what medical school was going to be, of what specialty I was going to pursue and what my life was going to look like, and none of those ended up being true. I’m in a better place despite all of that,” Majid said.
“I think there is a common misconception that most medical schools are very cut throat and competitive but I’ve found . . . quite the opposite to be true,” said Tran, who is matching in neurology. “At this point, I’m just very grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had.”
“The family that I developed, and the community here was really surprising, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Mallett said.
