 |
| Top row, from left: Harrison Dilworth, Andrew Robinson and Alan Schumann; bottom row: Kristen Smith, Ashleigh Tomkovich and Anna Williams. |
The majority of medical students go through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) to find out where they will be doing their residency training following graduation, but students who wish to match in the military participate in a specialty match program that takes place months before Match Day in March.
Kristen Smith, a native of Auburn, Ala., credits one of her old roommates for her serendipitous journey into the military. As a young kid, she entertained the idea of joining the Army because her family always spoke of the military with great respect. “I didn’t think it was compatible with my goal of being doctor until my roommate in college – Ashleigh Tomkovich – mentioned the Health Professions Scholarship Program,” she said. “I realized it was an amazing opportunity professionally, personally and financially.”
Smith matched in obstetrics and gynecology at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash. She said she is most looking forward to working with her fellow interns, all of whom she has met during away rotations. “It is a great group of women and I can’t wait to serve the active duty members of Joint Base Lewis-McChord and their families,” she said. “The coffee and hiking offered by the Pacific Northwest are an added bonus.”
Tomkovich, a native of Huntsville, Ala., will continue her family tradition of serving in the military. She has several family members who are currently active or have previously serviced in the military. “Given my family history, I felt like it would be an honorable tradition to serve in the military,” she said. “I also felt like it would be particularly rewarding to help take care of the United States’ service men and women.”
Tomkovich said not only is she is looking forward to the diagnostic challenges that await as a budding pathologist, but she is also excited to move to a new state with her husband – Alan Schumann.
Together, Tomkovich and Schumann plan to reveal the location of their match at the 2019 Match Day Ceremony in March.
Harrison Dilworth said his passion for community service and community involvement sparked his interest in the military. “In my opinion, there is no greater form of community service than joining the U.S. military,” he said.
Although Dilworth, a native of Richmond, Va., is not the first person in his family to serve in the military, he will be the first physician in his family. “My parents were both in law,” he said. “My mom is a judge and my dad is a retired police officer, so I decided to go in the opposite direction and have loved every step of my medical journey thus far.”
Dilworth matched at Eglin Air Force Base in Destin, Fla., where he will complete his residency training in family medicine. “I completed a month long audition rotation at Eglin over the summer and absolutely loved everyone there from the residents, faculty and ancillary staff,” he said. “I am looking forward to getting reconnected with those individuals, learning everything I can from them, and beginning to mold and sharpen my family medicine tools.”
During Honors Convocation in May, Dilworth, Schumann, Smith, Tomkovich and Williams will take the military oath of office and receive their new military rank, coinciding with completion of their medical degrees.
The remainder of the USA College of Medicine Class of 2019 will find out where they matched on Match Day, March 15, 2019. The event will take place at the Mobile Convention Center in downtown Mobile.
