USA senior medical students celebrate residencies at Match Day 2022

Fourth-year medical students at the University of South Alabama gathered March 18 at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center, anxiously awaiting the results of Match Day. 

In this annual tradition called the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), or more commonly known as Match Day, future physicians at medical schools across the United States and Canada simultaneously learn where they will be doing their residency training. 

The Match works like this: After interviewing with several different residency programs – both near and far – students provide a ranking of their top-choice programs in order of preference. The training programs, in turn, rank the students who interviewed. The NRMP matches applicants’ preferences for residency positions with program directors’ preferences for applicants. Each year, thousands of medical school seniors compete for approximately 36,000 residency positions across the United States.

The USA College of Medicine seniors matched in 16 states, with 46 students matching out-of-state and 26 students matching in the state of Alabama. Twenty-one of the students matching in Alabama matched at USA Health.

Brittany Jackson hugs her classmate Zachary Lazzari during

the Match Day event.

One fourth-year medical student, Brittany Jackson, is excited to serve as a role model for the African American community.

“Both of my parents are Army veterans so I moved around the world,” she said. “Growing up as a military child, I was unaware of the lack of healthcare availability and the true disparity that existed right outside my door. Once I began college, I was no longer in my military bubble and started to realize the mistrust my extended family members had for physicians, as well as the lack of resources and access to healthcare. That realization motivated me to one day be the face of a trusted physician for individuals that look like me.”

As she anxiously opened her envelope on Friday, her mother, Cicely Jackson, stood by her side, beaming. “To see all of the hard work and dedication she has put in over the last four years finally pay off is so rewarding,” Cicely Jackson said.

Brittany Jackson matched in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic School of Medical Education in Jacksonville, Florida.

Newlyweds Yousef Omar and Hadil El-Sharkh matched in

internal medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Newlyweds Yousef Omar and Hadil El-Sharkh hoped to secure residencies at the same location as they participated in the couples match. The two knew each other peripherally before medical school – as they both received their undergraduate degrees in engineering from USA – but credit medical school for bringing them closer together.

“We really got to know each other during the first year of medical school as we both became involved in the Muslims in Medicine organization,” Omar said. “However, it wasn’t until later in the first year during anatomy that we would fall for each other as we studied together in the cadaver lab.”

Together, they matched in internal medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “I am thrilled,” Omar said. “Internal medicine allows me to integrate my chemical engineering background in efficiency and problem solving and translate that to the care of my patients. I enjoyed my internal medicine rotation the most during my time in medical school and see it as a field where my career can flourish.”

El-Sharkh said she is most excited to use the knowledge and skills that she has acquired during her time at the College of Medicine in a real clinical setting. “As a child, I loved playing the role of a doctor by helping to give my parents their medications and performing small tasks such as checking my mother’s blood pressure or my father’s blood sugar,” she said. “From there, my passion to be a caretaker, combined with my intellectual curiosity, fueled my motivation to pursue a career in medicine. I am very attached to the medical knowledge that I have acquired over the past four years, and I believe that the breadth of internal medicine will allow me to utilize most of that knowledge in practice.”

Elizabeth Hernandez shows her family her Match letter as her
husband, Johnny Piceno, reacts to the news.

Another fourth-year medical student, Elizabeth Hernandez, is particularly excited to serve as the first physician in her family.

A native of Hayden, Alabama, Hernandez said traveling five hours from home to further her education was not easy. “But it is nothing compared to the sacrifices my parents made when they fled our country,” she said of her family's emigration from Mexico.

As a child, Hernandez watched her younger sister battle leukemia and credits a Latina oncologist for solidifying her decision to pursue a career in medicine. “The physician was able to communicate with my parents in Spanish, which made it easier for us to understand such a complex diagnosis. We immediately felt at ease.” she said. “I realized then that I wanted to be that person one day to help patients and families in their native language and make them feel that same comfort that we felt that day.”

Hernandez matched in internal medicine/pediatrics at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. She offered these words of encouragement to others on a similar path: “To those first-generation immigrants, first-generation college students, from low incomes or small towns, keep going. If I can do it, you can, too! ¡Sí, se puede!”

View more photos of Match Day 2022 on Flickr.

Click here for a complete list of Match Day 2022 results.

Watch the recording of the event's livestream.

Watch the recap video of Match Day 2022 on YouTube.

Meet a Med Student: Rennan Zaharias

Rennan Zaharias

Age: 26

Class of: 2023

Hometown: Birmingham, Ala.

Undergrad/grad Institution: Pepperdine University, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Degrees earned: Bachelor of Science in psychology, Master of Science in biomedical sciences

Interests, hobbies: Running, baking, playing tennis and hand knitting.

Something unique about me: I am half Turkish and half Greek!

Three of my favorite things: My family and friends, being close to the ocean and traveling. 

What I enjoy most about being a student at USA COM: I love being a medical student here because of the combination of our smaller class sizes and the extraordinary educational professors and attending physicians we get to learn from. We are constantly in an environment of support and surrounded by people who want us to succeed!

USA College of Medicine allocated $60 million for expansion and renovation

An artist rendering shows the planned expansion and renovation of the College of Medicine.

The expansion and renovation of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine building is one large step closer to reality thanks to a $60 million appropriation from U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby. The appropriations bill was approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

This allocation follows a $50 million earmark from Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and a $30 million gift from the University of South Alabama Foundation.

“The $60 million allocation for the College of Medicine is more than a commitment of financial support. It is a commitment to our faculty, researchers and students, as well as to the communities that our graduates serve,” said USA President Jo Bonner. “Sen. Shelby has spent a lifetime in service to Alabama and to our coastal region. This appropriation is another example of his tireless and steadfast commitment to Alabamians and to the state as a place to live and work.”

“Sen. Shelby again has demonstrated his desire to improve conditions within Alabama now and into the future,” said John Marymont, M.D., M.B.A., vice president for medical affairs and dean of the USA College of Medicine. “New facilities will enable our recruitment of high-quality faculty and students as the leading academic health system along the Gulf Coast, and it will ensure our continued ability to provide top-level education and research for the next generations of physicians and scientists for the state of Alabama.”

Bonner and Marymont again expressed their gratitude to Governor Ivey and the USA Foundation for their support for the future of the USA College of Medicine.

Recent statistics demonstrate that the USA College of Medicine is in the 71st percentile of all allopathic medical schools whose alumni practice in-state. Alumni are in the 88th percentile who practice in primary care disciplines, 77th percentile who practice in rural areas and in the 96th percentile who practice in underserved areas. The USA College of Medicine is in the 71st percentile of medical schools in terms of Black or African American graduates.

USA plans to break ground in the next year on this project, which will include new construction and an extensive renovation of the existing structure, which was completed in 1974.

USA Health researcher to present on breast cancer disparities at national conference

Sarabjeet Kour Sudan, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow, is studying why Black women are disproportionately affected by breast cancer.

Sarabjeet Kour Sudan, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute and the department of pathology, will present her findings on breast cancer disparities at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting, set for April 8-13, in New Orleans. 

Black women have earlier onset of breast cancer, are frequently diagnosed with aggressive triple-negative subtype, and have higher mortality rates when compared with white women. Although socioeconomic differences and access to healthcare have long been believed to be the underlying causes of such racial disparities, an interplay of social and biological factors might also play a role, Sudan said. 

“We hypothesize that socioeconomic hardships faced by African American women may alter their physiology through release of stress hormones,” she said. “Further, it may also affect their dietary choices and lifestyle behavior, leading to increased obesity and inflammation, thus putting them at higher risk of developing cancer.” 

To test their hypothesis, researchers analyzed more than 150 blood samples collected from Black and white women, with and without breast cancer diagnoses, who visited USA Health clinics in the past two to three years. They also collected their socioeconomic and stress exposure data through a survey.

“We found that African American women had higher levels of stress, obesity and inflammation-associated hormones and cytokines in their serum as compared to white women, regardless of their breast cancer diagnosis,” Sudan said. “Moreover, we found that the levels of these hormones and cytokines were increased in women with a breast cancer diagnosis relative to the non-cancer subjects.” 

In addition, researchers detected differential presence of certain microRNAs in the blood serum of Black women. In parallel studies, they have found that these microRNAs have immunosuppressive functions and promote the growth of breast cancer cells. 

“Our findings suggest a novel sociobiological link for the breast cancer disparities in African American women. These biological differences could be exploited for risk-prediction and to guide early interventions for minimizing the disparity gaps,” she said.

Sudan received a travel award from the Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program (GMaP) Region 2, funded by the National Cancer Institute, to attend the meeting. AACR is the world’s largest cancer research organization, and thousands of scientists from around the world attend the annual meeting. 

“Having an opportunity to share my findings with my peers and senior scientists will be a great experience,” she said. “It will allow me to build a network with other cancer disparity scientists, receive their feedback, and possibly develop new collaborations to widen my research scope.”

Sudan works in the lab with mentor Seema Singh, Ph.D., professor of pathology and a senior member of the Cancer Biology Program at the MCI, whose work is supported through a grant from the National Cancer Institute. 

Collaborators on the project are Lynn Dyess, M.D., a breast/endocrine surgeon and professor of surgery; Teja Poosarla, M.D., a former oncologist at the MCI; Nicolette Holliday, M.D., an obstetrician/gynecologist and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology; Jennifer Young Pierce, M.D., M.P.H., a gynecologic oncologist, head of the Cancer Control and Prevention Program at the MCI, and professor of obstetrics and gynecology; Casey Daniel, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of epidemiology and public health, and associate professor of family medicine; and Ajay Singh, Ph.D., head of the Cancer Biology and Cancer Health Disparities Programs at the MCI and professor of pathology.

Sudan received her doctoral degree from CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology in Chandigarh, India. She was the recipient of a senior research fellowship from DST-Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE), a research agency in India.

Meet a Med Student: Sidney Bailey

Sidney Bailey

Age: 23

Class of: 2025

Hometown: Monroeville, Ala.

Undergrad/grad institution: Auburn University

Degrees earned: Bachelor of Science in biomedical sciences

Interests, hobbies: Watching and playing a variety of sports, playing video games and spending quality time with friends and family.

Something unique about me: I was once selected to attend a national leadership conference held in Washington D.C. and had the opportunity to meet and interact with fellow students from all 49 other states.

Three of my favorite things: Mexican food, The Office and spending time at the beach.

What I enjoy most about being a student at the USA College of Medicine: I truly enjoy the cohesiveness of our medical school class. We all get along and have made it a priority to enjoy time together as a class outside of the classroom. I definitely believe that the friendships and relationships formed during our time here will last a lifetime.