Members of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Class of 2024—the largest in school history at 167—celebrated Match Day at UMass Chan Medical School on Friday, March 15, with hundreds of friends, relatives and faculty cheering them on. In addition to seven students who matched early in military, ophthalmology and urology programs, 160 students participated in the National Resident Matching Program and learned simultaneously at noon where they will start their careers in medicine as they tore open their match envelopes.
“I was very excited for Match Day to get here and now, finding out what the result of all this hard work has been and what my future has in store, I’m excited about the future, the people I might meet and the patients I will serve,” said Jordan Dudley, a graduating medical student in the Population-based Urban and Rural Community, or PURCH, track.
Dudley, who grew up in Derry, New Hampshire, matched in obstetrics and gynecology at Women and Infants hospital at Brown University.
“To be able to have the chance to be there during the most wonderful point in somebody’s life is what makes this whole journey worth it,” Dudley said.
A son of Mexican immigrants, Eric Romo moved to Massachusetts from Los Angeles to attend Harvard University for his undergraduate degree in neurobiology and pursue his MD/PhD in population health at UMass Chan. Romo lives in Newton with his wife, Lindsay Romo, MD/PhD’19, a physician-scientist and pediatrics resident at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Romo matched in family medicine at Boston University Medical Center. He has a strong clinical and research interest in addiction medicine.
“I’ve grown to appreciate over time that UMass Chan is an institution that values primary care. They don’t just say it, but they walk the walk. For me, I came in thinking that I wanted to pursue family medicine, and UMass Chan cultivated that in me,” Romo said. “UMass Chan is an organization that prides itself in being part of the community and the student body really tries to dig in and get involved with the community. Being able to be part of that has helped develop that mindset of what a family physician should be.”
Lakhena Leang, from DeKalb, Illinois, a city about an hour west of Chicago, is heading back home to start her residency in pathology at University of Chicago Medicine. Leang moved to the United States from Cambodia at the age of 4. Her parents and relatives live in DeKalb and she’s looking forward to getting back home to them.
Leang gave birth to her son, Emery, in February.
“My family is all in the Chicago area. They’re all so excited,” Leang said. “We’re so stoked to get home. I’m really grateful for the opportunity.”
Benjamin Potee, a PURCH student, grew up in Northfield, Massachusetts, a small town near the New Hampshire border. Potee matched in general surgery about an hour north of the state border at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
“UMass Chan, and the PURCH track in particular, has been able to expose me to a variety of health care specialties and how they’re delivered in different parts of the country and in different urban, suburban and rural environments,” Potee said. “UMass Chan, having so many different clinical training options, all over the state, including in Western Massachusetts, has been just an incredible opportunity for me to figure out both the kind of medicine that I want to practice, but also where I want to do that work.”
Reflecting the institution’s mission to train primary care physicians, 80 students matched in internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics, representing nearly 50 percent of the Class of 2024. Fourteen students are going into emergency medicine and 11 students are going into obstetrics and gynecology. The Medical School also continues to fulfill its mission to care for residents of the commonwealth, with 73 members of the class completing some or all of their residency training in Massachusetts, including 38 who will be staying at UMass Chan campuses. Seven students completed early matches, four in ophthalmology, two in urology, and one in the military.
See video of the full Match Day celebration on Facebook and YouTube.
Pat Sargent, Hallie Leo, Bryan Goodchild, Kaylee Pugliese, Susan Spencer and Colleen Locke contributed to this report.
