Match Day 2022

Match Day is a rite of passage for the prospective physicians, as they learned where they will train in residency.

“This is a group of firsts. This was the first class for Dori R. Marshall, MD, when she was named director of admissions. This is the first class to fully go through the new building, and you’re the first class to be able to have a Match Day in person after the pandemic,” said Allison Brashear, MD, UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in addressing the gathering.

“Good luck on your next journey, but remember, you’re going to take all these people in this room with you on that journey, including all the Office of Medical Education staff, who have you in their thoughts whether it’s here or across the country,” Brashear added.

David A. Milling, MD, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs, announced each of the students in attendance as faculty and school leadership passed out envelopes containing the match results.

“This is a great day. Medical school is hard — that is the understatement of the year. But we get to celebrate at the end of this long process, and today is that day,” Milling said.

Milling then led the countdown and at noon the students simultaneously opened their envelopes to find out where in the U.S. they will be spending the next few years of their training as physicians.

It was a very special day for Mam Deng, who came to Buffalo in 2001 as a refugee from South Sudan.

“There are a lot of emotions I’m feeling right now,” said Deng, who matched in family medicine at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester. “I’m beyond excited and grateful for the mentors that I’ve had. I’ve had a lot of support here.”

Deng graduated from City Honors School and earned his bachelor’s degree from SUNY Fredonia before coming to the Jacobs School.

“I’m really happy that I got one of my top choices and I’m going to become the doctor that I want to be,” Deng said. “The dream is actually starting to come true.”

Ellen E. Lutnick couldn’t stop smiling after learning that she will get to do her orthopaedic surgery residency at UB.

“I have wanted to stay in Buffalo for my surgery residency literally since before I started medical school,” Lutnick said.

Shanice Elizabeth Guerrier had similar feelings. She will be doing her residency in anesthesiology at Yale-New Haven Medical Center in New Haven, Connecticut, just an hour from her home in New York City.

“This was my No. 1 choice. I’m so happy,” Guerrier said. “It’s a dream come true. We’ve all been working so hard for this for all these years, and now it’s actually coming true.”

Neneyo Emmanuel Mate-Kole matched to Howard University for his preliminary year and the University of Chicago for physical medicine and rehabilitation.

“It’s been incredible. I don’t even know how to describe it, I’m just so happy to be here,” Mate-Kole said. “I’m going to be the best doctor I can be.”

Kate Zha, who matched in neurology at Johns Hopkins University, may have summed up what many of her fellow classmates were feeling.  

“It’s been kind of surreal. Everything was building and building with anticipation. It all comes down to this piece of paper in your hands that you can’t open until somebody counts down. It makes it all seem worth it,” Zha said. “And I feel so lucky that we were able to have a Match Day in person this year and were able to celebrate with all of our friends. It’s a really nice ending to the whole medical school experience.”

30 percent of the class — 51 students — have chosen to stay at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences for advanced training.

This year's class included 2 MD/PhD, 4 MD/MBA, 2 MD/MPH and 1 MD/MOMS student.

Fourth-year medical students are listed below with their future medical specialties and the locations of their residency matches.