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MATCH DAY reveals good news for LA.
When medical-school seniors across the country tore open white envelopes today to learn where they'll go for further training, Louisiana got a double dose of good news.
Exactly half of the 246 graduating students from Louisiana State University's medical schools in New Orleans and Shreveport will be staying in Louisiana, figures show. This is an encouraging sign, especially in storm-battered south Louisiana, because studies have shown most doctors practice where they complete their residencies.
Also, fledgling doctors will be converging on New Orleans from across the country, not only to begin their postgraduate study but also to lend hands and minds to the continuing recovery from Hurricane Katrina's body blows to the medical system.
Shawn D'Andrea of Denver will be one of them. A senior at the University of Colorado's medical school, D'Andrea made LSU his top choice for an emergency-medicine residency after spending a month performing that specialty in New Orleans to see what it would be like. "People are committed to rebuilding a medical infrastructure, and that played an important part in placing that residency program at the top of my list," he said in a telephone interview from Denver. "I think I'll be able to become an excellent physician with the faculty there and be an excellent community advocate."
For medical-school seniors, Match Day culminates of months of flying to interviews around the country. After those encounters, students and institutions list their top choices, and a computer-driven process matches their preferences.
With 28,737 American students vying for 22,240 positions, this year was the biggest match in the National Resident Matching Program's 56-year history, according to the organization.
At the New Orleans campus, 49.3 percent of the graduates will remain in the state, a 4-point increase from last year.
"We need our best and brightest to stay," Dean Steve Nelson said. "This tells us we're on the right track."
At Tulane, which has no such restriction, 24 of the 156 medical-school seniors who participated in the computerized matching program said they'll be continuing their training in Louisiana.
Dr. Jeff Wiese, the school's director of graduate medical education, said he takes heart from the numbers of outstanding students from all over America who chose to continue their training in New Orleans.
"They could go anywhere in the world, but they decide to come here and make this their professional home," he said. "It's incredibly inspiring. They aren't afraid of New Orleans. They see it as an opportunity to building something -- not the way it was, but 10 times better.
"It's exciting to have young minds who want to do something like that . . . It makes me feel very optimistic."
Two residents-to-be -- one from New York City, one from Oregon -- chose Tulane, Wiese said, because they want to conduct research into health-care infrastructures.
"This is an unprecedented opportunity in medical history, that a city this size completely closes down and you completely rebuild it from the ground up, not facing the old problems," he said.
Representatives of other local residency programs, at East Jefferson General Hospital and Ochsner Health System, voiced similar opinions.
Out-of-state medical graduates filled half of the six slots -- all in family medicine -- at East Jefferson, and 28 of the 50 residencies at Ochsner.
Although Ochsner always has filled its positions, this year's crop of applicants stood out, said Barbara McNamara, the medical-education director.
"We're seeing a stronger application pool of people who are interested in the region -- young people who want to come here and help with the rebuilding process," she said. "The youth of the United States has really stepped up to be part of New Orleans' rebirth. It's exciting to be part of it."
Match results were kept secret until the same moment from coast to coast -- 11 a.m. New Orleans time -- when they were handed out in auditoriums as students and their families and friends cheered, hugged and exchanged high-fives.
Angela Kosarek just couldn't stop sobbing as she clung to her husband, Logan, in the lobby outside the Jesuit High School auditorium. LSU held its ceremony there because its hurricane-damaged auditorium is still being repaired.
"These are happy tears," Angela said, explaining that she was ecstatic because she and her spouse -- and fellow LSU senior -- had pulled off the feat of landing local residencies -- she in pediatrics at LSU, he in anesthesiology at Ochsner.
"We're so excited. All our families are here," she said.
"There were going to be tears either way," her husband said. "I think we're pretty strong candidates. We're pretty competitive. We could have gone anywhere, but we really like it here."
John Pope can be reached at jpope@timespicayune.com or at (504)¤826-3317.
Residents
"Being from the New Orleans area, Charity (now University) Hospital has always been an icon of where you want to be taken when you are sick. Our EM program was established in 1973 and has led the way in health care ever since. Our residents and faculty were the individuals who took care of emergencies stemming from local tragedies like the Howard Johnson Sniper incident of the 1970s, the Bright Field riverboat crash and Mother's Day bus crash of the 1990s, and most recently, Hurricane Katrina - not to mention all the everyday emergencies that aren't publicized that roll through our ED.
Our colleagues and residents represent unwavering courage. Certainly we have always been committed to New Orleans, LSU, and anyone who is in need of medical care.
I believe no one has been more devoted to pushing its residency to be the absolute best. We can hang our stethoscopes on these principles.
We are dedicated to Excellence, Commitment, & Courage."
Mark Rice, Class of 2010
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PGY1 Adam Czaikowski - Univ Cincinnati Shawn D'Andrea - Univ Colorado Annalies DeWulf - Tulane Parrish Eilers - LSU NO Heather Halton - Tulane Megan LaRose - LSU NO Rachel Littrell - Tulane Anna McFarlin - Univ S. Florida Andrew Pizza - LSU NO Scott Zainey - LSU NO IM/EM Lara Fox, MD* - U Americas Jessica Garcia, MD* - Kansas City U of Medicine
PGY 2 Steve Agans, MD - LSU-NO Gaby Buller, MD -LSU-NO Elizabeth Clement , MD - LSU-NO Emily Kauffman, DO* - Ohio John Lilley , MD- U. Carib Lee Peeples, MD- U. Miss James Perkins, MD -Meharry Misty Rea, MD - U. Miss Kate Ryan,MD - LSU-Shreveport Aimee Staser, MD-LSU NO Laura Mutter, MD - Minneapolis
PGY 3 David Beran, DO -Iowa Jasmine Bookert, MD Howard Claude D'Antonio, MD LSU-NO Justin Geisler, MD* - Ross U. Tessa Hue, MD LSU-NO Alyssa Lyon, MD LSU-NO Tara Oden, MD LSU-NO Juan Ramirez, MD* - Ciencias de La Salud- Columbia Mark Rice, MD LSU-NO Theodore Sikorski, MD LSU-NO Elizabeth Skeins, MD LSU-NO John Uhl, MD LSU-NO
PGY 4 Matthew Bernard, MD Stacey Cheek, DO Brandon Cole, MD Jeffrey Elder, MD Andrew Griffin, MD Travis Hill, MD Anitra Lumpkin, DO* Karen May, MD Candace Robinson, MD Ariane Stevens, MD Lauren Tatum, MD Kevin Washington, MD Eric Zickerman, DO Tania Zorub, MD PGY5 Melissa McKay, MD* Gerald O'Bryan, MD*
* = Combined IM/EM Resident |
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Last Update: 8/25/2008