Editors’ Note: Next week is Match Week, the anxiety-provoking yearly event when medical students across the country learn if they match to a residency program and if so, where they’ve been accepted. In this post, assistant dean for student affairs Dr. Joshua Nosanchuk reflects on how Einstein’s class of 2015 has inspired him and provides insight on what’s in store for next Friday’s Match Day on March 20.
My older son, a senior in high school, recently opened an envelope that would cause a major frame-shift in his life as he joyfully discovered where he would be attending university. Closely watching all his enthusiastic, dedicated work coming to fruition in a successful “match” was emotionally challenging for a caring parent. With these emotions still running high, I am even more excited than usual as I eagerly await the Match for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Class of 2015.
As an assistant dean for student affairs, I have had the honor and privilege of working with many of these students on their path toward this day, and I am confident that each and every one will make an impact in the careers they will launch upon graduating, solidly grounded by their foundational experiences at Einstein.
I am continually impressed by the breadth of these students’ activities outside their busy clinical schedules, including volunteering in our free medical clinic, participating in committees at Einstein and in medical societies, engaging in athletic and artistic activities, performing and publishing important clinical and basic science work and advocating for those in need locally, nationally and globally. The compassion that our students show for the patients in our community is heartwarming.
Because of this background, combined with the rigorous curriculum that each student has undertaken, including two months of subinternship as fourth years, I never shy away from telling residency program directors that our students will be significant assets to their programs, work well in teams, engage patients and deliver exceptional care. In short, I feel strongly that Einstein students are special in their ability to transition readily to interns who smoothly and effectively multitask while providing thoughtful, compassionate care. Einstein students are indeed sought out by program directors who are cognizant of this, and I spoke with directors on both coasts who were hoping to “get even more Einstein students” this year.
So what do I expect for this year’s Match? There will be anxiety. There will be joy. There will be disappointment. Regardless of whether a student obtains her or his first choice, my colleagues in the office of student affairs will be there to celebrate with and assist each one as the students complete their individual journeys at Einstein and move on to the remarkable and rewarding challenges of residency.
As with the knowledge that my son will continue to mature and evolve as a college student, I am energized by our Class of 2015 having remarkable opportunities to hone their skills in the specialties they have chosen and being one step closer to independent practice in their fields of medicine.
The Class of 2015, like those I have taught and mentored before it, inspires me daily.
