The matches were four years in the making, fueled by anxiety and anticipation before being released to fourth-year medical students.
“It was palpable,” said med student John Sinclair. “Everybody was very worried. You feel your heart beating out of your chest.”
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine students are completing their clinical rotations at hospitals and clinics at Rochester Regional Health. Tracking their emails informing them of where they are connected to their residency programs.
And all at once the students will learn their fate. Sinclair was celebrating his match because he was going to become an anesthesiologist.
“It’s a great field,” Sinclair said. “You’re dealing with patients every day, and you’re making a big difference.”
“It’s a great day,” said Dr. Richard Alweis, chief medical education officer at Rochester Regional Health. “It’s a real cult for our medical students.”
It was an incredible moment for Nicholas Abdallah when he found out that his top choice would match The Cleveland Clinic.
“I was so excited when I opened that email and saw a reflection of my dreams and hopes and who little Nicholas wanted to be,” Abdellah said.
Good news for the Cleveland native on St. Patrick’s Day — the busiest day of the year for his family’s deli business back home.
Abdallah said, “My grandfather started the restaurant in 2008. I called my dad and he was behind the line and he answered the phone and announced me to the rest of the restaurant and it was great,” Abdellah said.
The healthcare industry as a whole welcomes Game Day at a time when there is currently a national shortage of workers in the sector.
“There’s not a lot of access across the United States,” Dr. Alweis said. “We don’t have enough primary care providers. We don’t have enough mental health services. And this concept, behind this particular medical school, was to produce more people.
The newly engaged med students are ready to help fill the gap and become doctors.
“I’m on cloud nine, this is happiness,” said Abdullah. “I think this is what happiness looks like.”