Media Alert

What

2015 Match Ceremony at Oregon Health & Science University

When

Friday, March 20, 2015, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Where

Oregon Health & Science University, Biomedical Information Communication Center (BICC), 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239 (map)

**Editors: Please call 503 494-8231 if you plan to send a crew.**

Details

Match Day is when results from the National Resident Matching Program are released simultaneously to thousands of medical students across the country.

Fourth-year medical students in OHSU’s School of Medicine will learn where they have been “matched” for the next three to seven years of their lives for their residency training. This group of newly minted physicians will play an integral role in the changing health care delivery system as it continues to roll out in Oregon and across the nation.

Medical students’ destinations are determined by a sophisticated computer algorithm that matches students to graduate medical education, or residency, programs based on their application, interview and program preferences, as well as the student preferences of the residency program to which they’ve applied.

Through this tried-and-true system, 85 percent of medical students are accepted to one of their top three choices, and 60 percent are matched to their No. 1 choice, according to the National Resident Matching Program.

"Congratulations to the M.D. Class of 2015," said Mark Richardson, M.D., M.B.A., dean, OHSU School of Medicine. "You have reached an important milestone in your journey to becoming a physician. You are all well prepared to succeed in the next phase of your training wherever it may be. All of the faculty and OHSU as a whole look forward to seeing the tremendous positive impact your careers will have on health care in the future."

“Wherever our students end up, we have confidence that the education they have received here at OHSU is top notch,” said George Mejicano, M.D., M.S., senior associate dean for education in the OHSU School of Medicine. “They are now prepared for the next important step of their training where they can become experts in their chosen fields.”

Following are four profiles of graduating medical students and a brief description of their journey to a career in medicine:

Susan Lou, 27

Susan Lou, an Oregonian from Lake Oswego, experienced the power of community first-hand as a medical student in the OHSU School of Medicine. She recalls: “My most memorable experience at OHSU was when one of our classmates was struggling with a cancer recurrence. In the spirit of the Japanese legend, our class coordinated the folding of 1,000 origami paper cranes as symbolic representation of our support during this difficult time. I was so moved and felt that it truly demonstrated the unity and camaraderie of our class.”

Susan holds a degree in Human Biology and a concentration in Community Health from Stanford University. Her focus on service has remained evident throughout her academic career, whether she’s leading the internal medicine interest group or participating in the OHSU Diversity Task Force. Today, Susan is completing a rotation at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, in the department of Endocrinology & Metabolism. Susan is the first OHSU student to participate in this program.

Susan has her eye set on continuing her ethic of service throughout a career in internal medicine. “My dream is to serve as a clinician educator and researcher at an academic institution where I can foster intellectual curiosity and enable students to pursue their passions.”

Gregory (Greg) Scott, 35

Portlander Greg Scott caught on to what makes OHSU distinctive, and he ran with it. “Now I’m not just saying this — but there really is something special here, and I’ve heard it from others, too. There’s this willingness to cross-pollinate, to work together, this openness that OHSU is known for,” he said.

Greg received his undergraduate degree from the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon, where he pursued his dual passions of science and technology. When the time came for graduate school, Greg realized that he wanted to not only pursue medicine, but to also “keep his roots firmly in research.” OHSU was a natural fit.

As an M.D./Ph.D. candidate, Greg completed his doctoral coursework in the Jacoby Lab, studying issues related to pulmonary function and bioimaging. In his clinical program, Greg explored specialties ranging from thoracic surgery and bone marrow transplant to two rotations in pulmonary pathology at OHSU and the University of Colorado at Denver. He says, “Pathology is also in an exciting phase of transformative adoption of powerful new technologies such as next genetic sequencing and digital pathology.”

Greg would like to pursue a fellowship in surgical/pulmonary pathology or molecular genetics after residency. This future physician-scientist is positioned to continue OHSU’s collaborative and pioneering spirit no matter where his path may lead.

Abbie Tirrell, 34

Coloradan Abbie Tirrell wasn’t afraid of letting medical school interfere with her life plans. “Don’t put off other things you want in your life. I got married during medical school. I had a baby during medical school. You shouldn’t put off what you want to do. You can have your life, too; you just have to figure out how to balance it all. When I was considering this, I thought to myself, ‘You’ll be 35 someday no matter what. You might as well be 35 and be a doctor.’”

She had an unusual path to medicine. After earning a degree in international studies and business at the University of Oregon, Abbie spent more than five years working with immigrant and refugee communities in Seattle and with Operation Smile coordinating international medical trips and programs. It was her experience with Operation Smile that led her to pursue a joint M.D. and Master of Public Health at OHSU.

Abbie has found her passion in anesthesiology, a specialty that will provide her with lifelong opportunities to continue pursing international work. She said, “I liked the general work of anesthesiology, always working in different locations, meeting lots of different patients and participating in different kinds of surgeries. I also feel I’m good at quickly building rapport and trust with patients.”

Ethan Beckley, 33

California native Ethan Beckley, Ph.D. ‘09, bucked his family’s tradition of orange farming to focus on a different kind of cultivation: improving human health through biomedical research. At the advice of faculty and advisors at California State University at Chico, Ethan put his undergraduate degree in psychology to good use by pursuing a doctoral program in behavioral neuroscience, a decision that brought him to the OHSU School of Medicine. But as much as he enjoyed the culture of research, throughout his doctoral program, Ethan never lost his desire to marry his passion for research with direct patient care.

Two years after finishing his Ph.D., Ethan returned to OHSU and entered the M.D. program in 2011 to focus on psychiatry. He hopes to find his perfect match at an academic medical center where he can “structure his time in both the research and patient care worlds.” His interests lay in the fields of child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction medicine and women’s health psychiatry, which encompasses everything from studying ways to reduce teen suicide rates to developing treatment protocols for female veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Quick Facts

• OHSU ranks fifth in the nation for excellence in both primary care and family medicine education (Source: U.S. News & World Report).
• One-third of all licensed physicians in Oregon completed all or part of their training at OHSU.
• Forty-six percent of OHSU School of Medicine M.D. graduates end up practicing in Oregon.
• Oregon is 10th in the nation for in-state retention of new physicians, with 53 percent of active physicians who completed residency at OHSU choosing to continue their practice in Oregon (Source: Association of American Medical Colleges).

Parking is available on the top level of Parking C (Sam Jackson Garage) by contacting Ariane Le Chevallier. George Mejicano, M.D., and several OHSU medical students will be available for interviews.