MATCH DAY 2019: NATIONAL RESIDENCY MATCHING PROGRAM for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix Class of 2019

DATE/TIME:          FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 8:30 – 10 A.M.

LOCATION:            UA College of Medicine – Phoenix

Health Sciences Education Building, Grand Canyon Area
435 N. Fifth St., Phoenix Biomedical Campus

PHOENIX – Surrounded by excited family members and friends, more than 60 members of the Class of 2019 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix will learn their next destination in their journey to become physicians during the Match Day ceremony, held exactly at 9 a.m. Friday, March 15 on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, 435 N. Fifth St.

Fourth-year medical students at the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix open their “Match Day” sealed envelopes at the same time as every other medical student in the country. The letters reveal where they will spend the next several years as resident-physicians, the next step in building a medical career.

Match Day is the culmination of a complex, year-long process that matches the nation’s graduating medical students with residency programs. Match results are released nationally by the National Resident Matching Program™ and announced at Match Day ceremonies coordinated to occur each year on the same date (the third Friday in March) at the same time.

Strong visuals:

• Lots of emotion as medical students learn destinations simultaneously.
• Streamers and confetti.

Video from Match Day 2018:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRt8--e0CC4&t=103s

Photos from Match Day 2018:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/com-phoenix/albums/72157694557464805

Snapshot of a few of our 2019 students:

Jamil Jaber is a first-generation American and a first-generation college student. After graduation, he plans to become an orthopedic surgeon. He has received the Health Professionals Scholarship with the U.S. Army and will train to become a surgeon with the Army after graduation.

Jaber was born in California, but grew up in east Mesa and graduated from Red Mountain High School. After high school, he attended Maricopa Community College before taking a break from academics. He returned to school in 2007 at Santa Monica College and later finished a bachelor’s degree in genetics, cell and developmental biology, with a minor in biochemistry from Arizona State University.

Roshan Panchanathan wants to pursue a career that combines his passion for medicine and technology. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, for his undergraduate studies in bioengineering, Panchanathan discovered he was interested in creating cutting-edge medical devices.

Panchanathan’s interest in medicine came from his desire to create technologies to improve patients’ lives. “I had an internship during the summer between my sophomore and junior years in the Simulation Lab at Banner – University Medical Center,” he said. “I found myself attracted to the application of medical devices in patient care, rather than simply designing and developing them, which shifted me toward a career in medicine.

Mia Wright had an interest in medicine as a youngster, but that interest was solidified as she gained experience addressing health disparities that exist domestically and abroad. She believed medicine could provide the proper training to allow her to participate in the direct care of patients, but also develop leadership skills so she could pursue lasting change in health care.

Wright grew up in Tucson and attended Catalina Foothills High School. She moved to the Phoenix area while attending Arizona State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in microbiology with a minor in psychology.

Luce Kassi (right) was born in the Ivory Coast and lived in multiple countries before her family settled in Phoenix. “My life journey shaped me into the medical student that I am today, and I am excited to use those experiences to one day become the best physician I can possibly be.”

Kassi graduated from Saint Mary’s High School in Phoenix and continued her education at Arizona State University in 2015, where she studied microbiology (BS) and global health (BA).

She became attracted to a career in medicine because of her interests in global health and microbiology. Her background and childhood experiences also made her consider a field in which she would be able to make a significant impact on women’s lives.

PLEASE NOTE: The UA College of Medicine – Phoenix’s Match Day Ceremony will be live streamed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/user/UAMEDPHX. The video goes live at 8:30 a.m. (Pacific Time Zone).

This is the ninth Match Day at the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix. The event will be held in the “Grand Canyon,” between the Health Sciences Education Building and the Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building on the downtown Phoenix Biomedical campus.

For more background about Match Day, including more profiles of some of this year’s matching students, please go to http://phoenixmed.arizona.edu.

About the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix admitted its inaugural class of first-year medical students in August 2007 and currently has 332 students training to be physicians. The College inspires and trains exemplary physicians, scientists and leaders to optimize health and health care in Arizona and beyond.  The College of Medicine – Phoenix is uniquely positioned to accelerate the biomedical and economic engines in Phoenix and the State by leveraging vital relationships with key clinical and community partners. For more, visit phoenixmed.arizona.edu.