LEBANON, Oregon – Student-doctors from Western University of Health Sciences’ (WesternU) Oregon campus participated in the American Osteopathic Association’s (AOA) Match Program Tuesday, February 9, taking one of the final steps in their medical school career.
The Match Program places students into osteopathic graduate medical education positions across the country. Of the 103 student-doctors who comprise the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest (COMP-Northwest) Class of 2016, 36 participated in the AOA Match Program.
Eighteen COMP-Northwest students matched into primary care fields, which include internal medicine (three), family medicine (12), and OB-GYN (three). Four COMP-Northwest students will be completing their residency training at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, Ore., alongside two COMP students from the Pomona, Calif. campus.
Other medical students matched into emergency medicine (seven), orthopedic surgery (three), general surgery (two), psychology (two), as well as other medical specialties.
Seven COMP-Northwest students will complete their residency training at programs in Washington; four at Good Samaritan in Oregon (three in primary medicine and one in internal medicine); five in Ohio; and four in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan (respectively). The remaining students participating in the AOA Match Program landed residency programs across the U.S.
The remaining students in COMP-Northwest’s Class of 2016 will participate in a Match Day on Friday, March 18, facilitated by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).
Fourth-year medical student Erin Guiliano, a Corvallis native, is grateful for the opportunity to pursue a residency in family medicine at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis.
“As a single mother of four kids, this allows me to stay local and remain close to my children, while I continue my postgraduate medical education,” Guiliano said.
Guiliano has lived in Corvallis for almost 20 years. “I have fallen in love with the landscape, the climate, and the unique local culture, but most of all, the people whom I’ve met and the lasting relationships I’ve developed have made Corvallis and the surrounding area feel like home,” she said.
“As a result, when I first learned of a new medical school opening in Lebanon, I was thrilled. COMP-Northwest afforded me an amazing opportunity to stay close to home and pursue my dream of becoming a doctor while continuing to raise my four children in the same town in which they were born,” she said. “I plan to remain in the area after graduation, throughout residency, and well into the future as a practicing physician. I am committed to practicing in the Northwest for many years to come.”
Medical residencies can range from three to seven years, depending on the specialty. For example, family practice is three years, while neurosurgery is seven years. Following residency, the physician is then able to set up practice in the community of their choice.
A Match Day celebration for COMP-Northwest will take place from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, March 18 at the Boulder Falls Inn Conference Center, located at 605 Mullins Drive in Lebanon.
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About Western University of Health Sciences Western University of Health Sciences (http://www.westernu.edu/), located in Pomona, Calif. and Lebanon, Ore., is an independent nonprofit health professions university, conferring degrees in biomedical sciences, dental medicine, health sciences, medical sciences, nursing, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, podiatric medicine and veterinary medicine. WesternU is home to the Patient Care Center, where the best in collaborative health care services is offered. The Chronicle of Higher Education named WesternU a Great College to Work For in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
