Match Day By The University of the Incarnate Word

Match Day

By The University of The Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine

For 32-year-old Ste’Von Voice, March 19, 2021 was a long time coming on an unusual journey. Voice, originally from Terrell, Texas, started his college career in Corpus Christi with dreams of becoming a singer. He is now living the dream of becoming a doctor here in San Antonio. This reality was about to take another major step forward on the first-ever Match Day for the inaugural class at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM).

“I was very excited to find out if I was going to get into my No. 1 program,” said Voice. “Once I found out that I did match with my No. 1, I was very thankful to God for my blessings and immediately started envisioning my next adventures in life.”

Voice joined dozens of his classmates on the UIWSOM campus at Brooks on March 19. Held outdoors due to pandemic restrictions, nothing could contain the cheers and tears of joy as each student learned where they would spend the next three to seven years in residency, depending on their specialty. They then filed one-by-one into an auditorium filled with socially distanced faculty to announce their good news and celebrate their match.

What they had to say to the faculty was extraordinary. Fifty-five percent of the inaugural UIWSOM Class of 2021 matched into primary care specialties including Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Family Medicine. In all, the class matched into 14 different specialties. Eighty-four people matched into programs in Texas and the rest matched into programs in 22 other states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Eight learners are military service members, and all matched into military residency programs in the Army and Navy.

UIWSOM continues the tradition of its founding congregation, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, to bring quality and compassionate health care to where it is needed most. UIWSOM’s mission is to empower all members of the medical education community to achieve academic, professional and personal success and develop a commitment to lifelong learning through excellence in learner-centered, patient-focused education, justice-based research and meaningful partnerships of osteopathic clinical service.

For Ste’Von Voice, March 19 brought clarity. He is exactly where he says he wants to be: on a journey that led him from Terrell and now is headed to his No. 1 choice, Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska to study Family Medicine and Wilderness Medicine. All of it bringing him one step closer to his ultimate dream of one day working for NASA and maybe even becoming an astronaut. Still, he says he will look back on his time in the Alamo City fondly.

“I will remember how thankful I am for the opportunity to be a part of the inaugural graduating class at UIWSOM and the training they gave me to become a holistic physician. Another fond memory will be the many days and nights of studying on campus with colleagues to get through exam weeks together,” said Voice.

UIWSOM is proud to announce it graduated 137 learners as its inaugural class in May of 2021.

“I am so proud of our inaugural class and everyone in the SOM learning community who worked so selflessly to reach this milestone,” said Dr. Robyn Philips-Madson, Dean of the UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine. “We’re very grateful for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, our UIW colleagues, community partners and physician preceptors for their support. The Class of 2021 engaged with grace, a pioneering spirit, flexibility and creativity when faced with the pandemic and the challenges of being the first class. They are compassionate osteopathic physicians who care about the vulnerable and marginalized, and I have no doubt they will change the face of osteopathic medicine, health care and their communities in the future.”