WORCESTER MEDICINE
Students Then & Now
My Journey Through the Match Continued
competitive. There are also more applicants entering the pool each year as it has become increasingly popular for graduates of foreign medical schools to come to the U.S. for residency. However, this may change in the coming years because the USMLE Step 1, an allopathic board exam, has become pass/fail. The COMLEX, the osteopathic equivalent, will remain a scored exam. The match process itself, and the unknown element introduced by all these changes, puts a lot of pressure on applicants. I certainly shed lots of tears over the process because it felt like my whole life had led to something over which I had no control. I want to reassure any applicants reading this, it truly is not as bad as it seems. My advice is this: choose one factor that is most important and use that as a framework. For me, this was location. My husband would remain in Maine during my residency so I limited myself to programs between Maine and New Jersey. Those applying to a more competitive specialty, like dermatology or ophthalmology, will need to be flexible and apply more broadly. My own match day was bittersweet. UMass was not my first choice and matching here meant that I had to move away from my then fiancé. At first, I was upset and it felt like the end of the world. However, I am thriving here at UMass and have no regrets about matching. I fit in incredibly well with my co-residents and I have made life-long personal and professional relationships. I have gotten married and weathered a global pandemic. My training here has broadened my horizons and challenged me in ways that will ultimately make me a better, more independent, and skilled physician. If you do not match, all is not lost. A medical school classmate of mine failed to match, waited a year, got married, and couples-matched with his wife. One of my best friends also did not match and had to scramble into a residency in a specialty she did not intend. Now, three years later, she has found her calling in critical care and could not picture herself doing OBGYN as she had originally thought. All this is to say that you can trust the process. Even though it did not feel like it at the time, I matched into the program that was best for me and, if I had it to do over again, I would not change the outcome. It simply takes a little strategy and a little resilience for young doctors to end up exactly where they are supposed to be. + Kate Freeman, DO, is a third-year Internal Medicine resident at UMass Memorial Medical Center. Email: catherine.freeman@umassmemorial.org
Physician-Scientists, Nurse-Innovators and Community-Shapers: A Student Research Highlight Compiled by Alexandra Rabin, University of Massachusetts Medical School Class of 2022
T
hough the primary focus of medical and nursing
school is the acquisition of knowledge and clinical training, many students make time for exciting research projects. Medical and nursing students have historically contributed avidly to research. The Islets of Langerhans, the cells within the pancreas that produce insulin, were discovered by Paul Langerhans in 1869 while still a medical student. The availability and diversity of student research has grown exponentially since, as students participate not only in basic science research, but also in community-oriented and public health projects. At UMass, students are privileged to conduct research with formal faculty mentors and are supported by residents, fellows, basic scientists and more. This section highlighting student research displays the breadth of subject matter and applicability — both to the clinical setting and to the community at large — of several such projects.
Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Firearm Injuries and Community Firearm Ownership Julia Sherman, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Class of 2022 Drs. Michael Hirsh (Principal Investigator, Pediatric Surgery Research Group) and Max Hazeltine (Pediatric Surgery Research Fellow)
B
eyond the enormous human toll of COVID-19, we have yet to fully grasp the social and economic consequences of the pandemic. Our study aims to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on firearm-related violence. It will do so by comparing the sales of firearms, rates of firearm-related injuries and fatalities, and turnout for the Goods for Guns program during the pandemic compared to years prior to the pandemic. Since 2002, the Goods for Guns program has allowed participants to anonymously surrender firearms to various community sites in exchange for gift cards, with the aim of eliminating unwanted firearms from homes and raising community awareness about gun safety. This study will also assess demographic and clinical factors associated with firearm-related hospital admissions and emergency department visits during the pandemic compared to prior years.
SEPT / OCT 2021
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