More Than A Medical School
Hosted by Casey Pearce, More Than A Medical School provides a high-level briefing on the academic architecture and strategic vision of the NYITCOM at Arkansas State partnership. Featuring deans and clinical directors, the series offers an "under-the-hood" look at how a world-class medical curriculum is engineered to solve the regional physician shortage. This is the definitive source for institutional credibility, proving how the convergence of academic rigor and global medical heritage creates an elite pipeline for the future of healthcare.
More Than A Medical School
Building Your Medical Resume for Match
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Residency isn’t the finish line after medical school. It’s the destination you’re training for from the moment you arrive, and the choices you make early can quietly shape what becomes possible later. Casey Pearce sits down with senior career advisor Rebekah Herring to unpack the residency Match process in plain terms, including what the NRMP Match really is, why it functions as a legally binding first job, and why “waiting until fourth year” is one of the most common misconceptions.
We talk about the practical steps that build a strong residency application over time: using Careers in Medicine to narrow specialties, setting realistic goals based on competitiveness, and building a professional brand that programs can trust. Rebekah explains the MSPE (Medical Student Performance Evaluation), what goes into those nine to ten pages, and why the story you tell there matters not just for residency, but potentially for fellowship and licensure down the road.
From there, we map the clinical training timeline, including structured third-year core rotations and the fourth-year audition rotations that can act like a two-way tryout for both students and programs. We also get honest about the emotional parts of the process: surprises around early deadlines, the data students always ask for, and the hard conversations that happen when scores or interviews do not go as planned. And yes, we end with the best part: Match Day and what it’s like to watch students open the envelope that changes everything.
If you’re a prospective medical student or already in the pipeline, listen and share this with someone who needs a clearer residency Match timeline. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what part of the Match process you want us to break down next.
@arkansasstatemedia.com.
0:00 - Residency is Your Actual Destination
1:15 - What is the NRMP Match?
3:02 - Why Waiting Until Fourth Year is a Mistake
5:10 - Narrowing Specialties with Careers in Medicine
7:45 - Deconstructing the MSPE: Your 10-Page Story
9:50 - Third-Year Core vs. Fourth-Year Audition Rotations
12:15 - Early Deadlines and Hard Score Conversations
14:30 - Opening the Envelope: Inside Match Day
Welcome And The Residency Goal
SPEAKER_01Welcome to the More Than a Medical School podcast. I'm Casey Pierce. I'm the director of external relations and marketing for NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine. We work in conjunction with Arkansas State University. We operate on their campus. We're a medical school. And the purpose of this podcast is to tell medical students, prospective medical students, some things about our medical school, what makes us unique. Why do we call ourselves more than a medical school? Today we're going to talk about the match process. Medical school is a long journey with a very specific destination, landing the perfect residency. In a previous episode, Mrs. Herring and I shared about the match process and told you how our College of Osteopathic Medicine has performed in it and how we we talked about how Miss Herring helps our students through that kind of final push. But the reality is the process of finding the right residency starts from day one of medical school, if not before. So today we're going to back up. Like I mentioned, I'm joined with Miss Rebecca Herring. She's our senior career advisor. She is intimately involved with helping our students through that match process. And we're going to talk about what all that looks like.
How The NRMP Match Works
SPEAKER_01So, Miss Herring, let's start here. I'm going to call you Rebecca because, yeah, Rebecca. There's a process that medical students are through which they're paired through their residency programs. Uh, we hit on that in our first episode, but let's kind of recap. What is match? And let's tell folks about it's how physicians get that first job is a little bit different than just about any other profession.
SPEAKER_00Yes. So to match into a residency program, students apply for residency and they use the matching algorithm through NRMB, that's the national resident matching program. And it's essentially an algorithm that allows students to rank the programs that they are most interested in. And the programs will rank students as well. And then the algorithm runs to match students to their residency program and the specialty of their choice. And it's a legally bonding contract. And as soon as students match, they will start in that residency on July 1.
SPEAKER_01So let's back up just a little bit further. So to become a physician, you go to undergraduate, typically for four years. You go to medical school, always for four years. At the end of medical school, you are a doctor, but you need some specialty training, some more intensive training before you can practice on your own, before you can receive board certification. So we hand off students to those residency programs for that next step. Does that sound about right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, that is exactly correct.
SPEAKER_01All right. And our school has done very well in match. We talked about that on our previous episode. This year we had a 95% match rate, which was well above the national average for all medical schools. We're at a 99% placement rate. Cumulatively, our seven classes have a 99.9% placement rate. We'll get that to 100 next year, too, with a couple just a little off-cycle things that we're going to clean up. We talked a lot about what that third and fourth year process looked like the last time. But what I want to do today is back up a little bit. You engage these students pretty much from the moment they arrive at our medical school. Tell us about that.
Career Planning From Orientation Week
SPEAKER_00It almost starts at day one. So during orientation week, that first week, those students are on our campus. I will meet with them and present to a class. I introduce them to a program called Careers in Medicine that's facilitated through the American Association of Medical Colleges. And Careers in Medicine is a program that helps students kind of determine what their passions and their talents are and how those can align with specific specialties. And Careers in Medicine then kind of walk students through, okay, you know what specialty you're most interested in. What do I need to do to get there? So we cover that in the first week during orientation. And then I kind of back off and I give the students a few months to kind of get their feet wet and get acclimated to medical school. But after that, um, we really start engaging in very intentional one-on-one conversations. So students aren't sure about their specialty. We start taking assessments through careers in medicine. We have um deep conversations about what impact they want to make as a physician and what they want to get out of their career to maybe determine what specialty they're most interested in and how to get there. But we also have a lot of students who already know what they want to do. So we have very specific conversations to say, okay, you want this specialty. You need to be doing X, Y, and Z over the next, you know, three to four years to be a competitive applicant for that specialty. We also work on their CVs. We start making connections with alumni. We encourage them to attend conferences and start networking. So it begins early. And the more competitive specialty you're interested in, the more early, the earlier we want them to start preparing so they can be a competitive applicant. So it starts very intentionally from almost day one.
SPEAKER_01And I guess it's probably difficult early on because there is a destination in mind, but the journey is really hard. That that marathon that they're currently running, they have to kind of keep their eyes on their feet step by step, but also keep that in line, that finish line, that end goal in mind. That's probably something that can be challenging to balance.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. There's a lot going on. Of course, they're a student, but also trying to balance personal obligations, professional obligations while trying to prepare yourself for residency and determining what you want to do for the rest of your life. Um, during those first few years, we're also building a professional brand. How do they want to be perceived by their programs and by their patients? So we also have to work on that. It it is a lot to balance. And every day I'm so impressed by our medical students and all that they're able to achieve with how much they have on their plate.
MSPE And Your Professional Story
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So we're gonna talk about a couple of terms that uh that our future students should become familiar with. One of them is an MSPE. What is that?
SPEAKER_00The MSPE is the medical student performance evaluation. It was formerly known as a dean's letter, um, but it was within the last 10 years or so switched to an MSPE. So that MSPE document is required for all students who are applying for residency in the United States. You must have one to apply. The MSPE is created by the medical school that the students are attending. So I write the MSPEs for our students. A lot of it is automatically generated. So it encapsulates their academic achievements and their clinical achievements, um, everything that they did on a rotation, how they scored on their exams, um, what they did in their free time, their extracurriculars. So things like that are auto-generated. But then I will write their three noteworthy characteristics. And those are the three things that our students want programs to know most about them. What are they most proud of? What are they most known for? And then I'll also write their summary statement, which just kind of starts out here's why this student decided to pursue medicine. Here's how they've developed their medical school, and here's why they are going to make a good physician. And so this document's really important. It's roughly about nine to 10 pages long, and it goes to every residency program that our students apply to.
SPEAKER_01So you have to get to know those students pretty well to be able to tell their entire story so thoroughly.
SPEAKER_00Yes. You know, I mentioned those intentional conversations that we start having, you know, from year one. I take very extensive notes when I meet with students because those conversations and the more I get to know about them, it gives me material to include on their MSPE. Now, granted, they do fill out a questionnaire to kind of help me guide that document, but the more I get to know them and the more I learn about them, the more content and the more um genuine information I can provide to programs.
SPEAKER_01We talked a little bit in the first episode. Not every school has your position. Are there some schools that those MSPEs are kind of left on alone to the student?
SPEAKER_00No student will ever write their MSPE. There is someone on their campus who will write them. But it might be a faculty member or someone who doesn't have the opportunity to get to know the students. So I think that's where my position is a little unique because I'm actually getting to know them and form relationships for three years before I sit down and write this document. It's not generic, it's not vague. It's written by someone who knows them and who is invested in their success and wants to make the document as good as it can be to allow them to hopefully match in the specialty in the program that they're most interested in.
SPEAKER_01But I think that goes to the success that we have because we're able to personalize them and really put our students in the best light that we can to help them find those programs. Exactly. So the MSP is done later in the cycle. Those are due, you said September of their fourth year.
SPEAKER_00Yes, that is correct.
SPEAKER_01But it's kind of a permanent record, isn't it? It's uh so it's something that I mean, even now, are anything medical experiences they have in undergrad, or is this just their medical school experience?
SPEAKER_00They can include undergrad if they have a noteworthy thing that happened. You know, maybe they were a president of an organization that fundraised a lot of money or conducted a research project that's really important to them. Undergrad can be included on the MSPE, but it is mostly medical school experiences. However, your MSPE follows you forever. That's why it is so important that it's done well and it's done correctly. So not only will you use it when you apply for residency, um if you decide to go on and apply for fellowship and further your education, your MSPE is submitted to that. And then anytime you apply for Licenger in any state, any certification, your MSPE is also sent for those.
SPEAKER_01So my point is this isn't something you wake up and decide, oh, I'm gonna put this uh list of accomplishments together. It's cumulating all of these different activities, achievements, accomplishments, um, building a case for why you're a perfect candidate for your ideal program.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And we spend about 10 months building out these MSPEs for each class. The students fill out their questionnaire in November of their third year, which students are typically kind of taken aback, like, wow, that's really early. But we give them roughly about two and a half months to fill out the questionnaire so they have time to put thought into what they want to be in that document. And then I spend about nine months writing them. The students get to review them. It goes through a review process on our campus, on our New York campus. So lots of people are placing eyes on this document to ensure that, again, it is doing our students justice.
SPEAKER_01So we're gonna talk about third and fourth year here in a minute because um wanna again clarify, you know, we laid out kind of the timeline of medical school, but even one thing that differentiates those four years, the first two years are what we call preclinical. So a student is in a laboratory, in a classroom, studying the hard sciences, the body systems, anatomy, physiology, all of those things. And then in the third year, they move into the clinical portion, which is where they're actually in a hospital or clinic with a precept or physician learning to apply all those things, watching that physician, hearing how, why, what they're doing with each patient, each case that they're in. So I think it's it's fairly easy to see how some of that gets sorted out in the third year when you're actually practicing medicine. But in the first and second year in the preparation, that's a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00Yes, very much so. And during their third year, they're really exploring multiple specialties and learning from preceptors, what each spec each specialty entails, what good, compassionate patient care looks like. And so they are learning and taking those principles for their first and second year and applying it to third year. And then we take those comments and put them on their MSPE.
SPEAKER_01Comments from those preceptors that they've been working with, right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, our preceptors fill out evaluations after every student's rotation in both third and fourth year. Um, the fourth year evaluations do not get submitted to programs because students have already applied for residency by that point when they're conducting their fourth year rotation. Um, but those third year comments, anything positive that the preceptors have to say, um, ways that the student excelled in those rotations, those do appear on the MSPE.
SPEAKER_01So, okay, let's move into those clinical years.
Clinical Rotations And What Gets Noted
SPEAKER_01Our third year is pretty structured. We have a set of regional clinical site managers that live in the different regions across the state. Let me back up a little bit even further. As an osteopathic medical school, fairly typical, we do not operate our own hospital. Some big academic institutions, they operate their own hospital system and their students are going to perform their rotations in those. As typical as most osteopathic schools, we partner with community hospitals around the state for those third-year rotations. We have an administrator, a clinical site manager in each of those areas of the state where our students go that help manage those relationships between the preceptors and the students and actually schedule and set up those rotations for them. So there's not a lot of choice, I should say. Uh the third year is a little bit more structured. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00That is correct. So our clinical education department, they help set up those rotations for our students. They complete seven core rotations in family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, OBGYN, and general surgery. And then our students have the option to complete, well, they all complete an elective rotation. Some of them choose to pursue a research rotation, elective, or if they are interested in a specialty that doesn't fall within those seven core rotations, they'll use those four weeks to explore the specialty that they think they may be interested in. And all of that is set up for them. Um, the students just have to show up and do the work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So those specialties that aren't included in that core, that could be anesthesiology, it could be dermatology, it could be physical medicine and rehabilitation, pathology. Those are some of the specialties that aren't necessarily part of that core base, but are opportunities for them to get elective experience in.
SPEAKER_00Yes, absolutely.
Fourth-Year Auditions And Interview Timing
SPEAKER_01So so then once we move into fourth year, students kind of get to pick their own schedule a little bit. They've decided what to hopefully they've decided what path they do want to pursue, what specialty they're going to pursue. So they get to choose programs they're going to audition with or places that they want to be. Is that accurate?
SPEAKER_00Somewhat, yes. So students will apply for audition rotations depending on their specialty, their academic record. We kind of adjust how many auditions we would like for them to complete. So in an ideal world, they would sit for level two and step two if they choose to take that exam in June. And then July through October, maybe even November, depending on the specialty the students are applying for, they will complete audition rotations with residency programs that they're interested in, potentially matching with in the specialty that they're most interested in. So those are typically two to four week rotations, and they're very valuable for a few reasons. One, it allows our students to be exposed to that specialty, see different programs, different patient populations, how those operate, learn more about what they're hoping to pursue. Um, it gives our students an opportunity to see that program face to face, see, you know, the ins and outs. Do they work well with their staff and the team that they have there? Do they like the facilities? Um, but also programs are viewing our students and determining, you know, is this someone that we'd like to have? Is this someone that we want to offer an interview to? And so it's a benefit for both the students and the programs for them to audition there. But students do have to apply for those audition spots and they're very competitive because audition months only last for a small period of time. And students can continue auditioning past November. They may even audition in the spring, um, but up until about October, that's the prime time to try and get in front of programs and a chance to get an interview offer.
SPEAKER_01So, where's the intersection between we mentioned our Office of Clinical Education that kind of handles those rotations for both third and fourth year? Where's the intersection? How do you work with them to tell a student these are this is what you need to do to get where you need to go in that fourth year versus um our clinical education team that's managing all that and trying to keep all those pieces just in the right place so that that machine keeps going?
SPEAKER_00Yes. I'm so grateful for the relationship and the collaboration that I have with our clinical education team. We work really closely to hopefully, again, help our students get to where they want to be. And so my role in that is providing students with insight on where have our students rotated in the past, where have we matched based on your academics and your specialty, and estimate, you know, how many rotations do you want to complete? When should you take pause for interview season based on the specialty that you've chosen? Um, so I typically give a little bit of advice to our students to help them determine how many programs they want to visit and when. But clinical education can help those students get those set up if they do not, you know, accept a rotation from V slow. That's the application that students apply for to go on rotation. Um, so clinical education really facilitates that process and helps our students with any questions they have and figuring out where to rotate. Um, but I give them some advice on the strategy of
Alumni Mentors And The Networking Edge
SPEAKER_00that.
SPEAKER_01And one piece of that that you and I work closely on, I wear a few different hats, but one of them is I serve as our director of alumni relations. And alumni relations begins day one, too, building relationships with those students while we have them here so that then they will stay connected and help our future students. So one piece of that is uh when you have these conversations with students, you offer them alumni mentors. And I've been here a little bit longer, so just have a little bit uh deeper relationships with some of those students that you didn't work with. So we're able to often identify our former students who are now in residency or working as attendings. And just like anything, medicine's a world where who you know can matter sometimes. It does.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um, I jokingly, but not jokingly, tell our students it doesn't always matter what you know, but it matters who you know. Um, you know, connections can take you really far. Medicine in the scheme of things is a small, close-knit community, especially when you start looking within those specialties. You know, family medicine, they're more family medicine physicians than any other specialty, but they are a really close-knit community. And you never know who is going to be reading your application and who knows someone who is connected to you and who can vouch for you. And so those alumni connections are very important. One, you have someone in your corner, but two, they can give advice that I cannot give because I'm not a physician. And they can say, you know, spend four weeks at this program. I think that you would be a really great fit. I have a friend who works there, or come come visit my program, come spend two weeks here where I'm currently a resident. And so those mentorships and those relationships are truly invaluable.
SPEAKER_01And one good thing specifically to the Arkansas campus, we we're a young campus, we're a young branch of a uh very well-established uh school. So I'm gonna give both ends of that. We've graduated about 750 physicians. So a lot of ours have gone through the process at most within the last seven years. So, you know, things change over the years, but the familiarity just in the last few years, I think that's helpful to our students.
SPEAKER_00Yes, they like to hear from current physicians who have gone through this process and things change every year. The application changes heavily. We've seen a lot of changes that are happening in the 2027 cycle. So I think it gives students some comfort to speak to someone who's been through this process very recently and is up to date with all of the changes happening, both in the application process, what residencies are looking for in their applicants, um, but also the changes in medicine as well.
SPEAKER_01But at the same time, a more experienced physician is going to have more connections, potentially.
SPEAKER_00That is true. So it really is a balancing act. And I think you do a great job at connecting our students with maybe one or two people. And we also have great ties with our New York campus. So if we have students who are interested in a competitive specialty, but we haven't matched someone, you know, there in a year or two, we can reach out to our New York campus and say, hey, we have a student here in Arkansas who's interested in this specialty. Do you have someone that we can connect them with? And so that is a very valuable resource having those New York connections.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, our medical school turns 50 next year. So we've got 50 years of graduates, almost 10,000 alumni. Um, I don't know the exact number, but it's a lot of states. We got we've got the map covered between our two campuses pretty significantly. And so, you know, when we've reached out to our alumni from the old Westbury campus or our Arkansas campus, we overwhelmingly get positive uh response that our alumni are interested in investing in our current students and willing to have a conversation with them to help them. The way I always frame those is hey, Dr. Herring, I've got a student on our Arkansas campus that uh would would like to connect with you. They're interested in their specialty. Can I give them your email or your cell so they can find some time just to get some advice or perspective from you?
SPEAKER_00Yes. And our um our alumni, our our physicians are so gracious to do that. Um we have some. Alumni who we've connected with 10 plus students. And they always say yes. They don't turn us down. Um, they're always willing to pour into our current students because they understand the importance. And especially our earlier classes, they didn't have alumni from our campus to pour into them. And so now they are giving back to ensure that our current students have those people available and those connections. So we're very thankful.
SPEAKER_01And I just point that out as I do think that's something else that's unique to our medical school. Uh the willingness, the opportunity, the ability to plug into that, those vast resources. We understand how valuable that is.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um, you know, again, we talk about it's about who you know and just being able to talk with people who live in the specialty day in, day out, who can be real and honest and truthful and say, okay, if this is what you choose to pursue, here's what it's going to be like for you. Here are, you know, some of the sacrifices that you're going to have to make. Because again, you and I can't have those conversations with the students. So for them to be able to speak to someone who's living it day in and day out and can give them the reality of what their specialty is like is really invaluable.
SPEAKER_01So this process, there are there any elements that when you're having conversations with students that seem to surprise them?
Why The Application Starts So Early
SPEAKER_00I think students are surprised at how quickly and how early the application process starts. As I alluded to, we began their MSPE process in November of third year. And students are just really starting to get settled into their in their in their clinical rotations in November. And we're saying, hey, it's time to start your residency application. And so they're kind of taken aback. And then they have to submit their residency application in September of their fourth year. So it's very soon, as soon as they start the year. I think a lot of students have the misconception that they'll apply for residency in December or January of their fourth year. No, we start very quickly. And so we have to have those conversations of, you know, if there's a project that you want on your application, you need to start it sooner rather than later because you apply so quickly. It's kind of a whirlwind.
SPEAKER_01Are there any common questions that you get um repeatedly throughout the process? I mean, at any point, you kind of hear the same things over and over again from students that you kind of have to reinforce or re guide because it's a really comp, it can be a really complicated process.
SPEAKER_00It is. There are a lot of nuances, and especially when you think about all the different specialties we have, you know, it's different advice for different students based on their academic history, um their CV, their involvement, but also the specialty where they want to be in the country. So there's a lot of nuances and very individualized advising. Um, but I would say more often than not, I'm asked questions about well, the students who came before me, what did they do? How many people applied to the specialty and how many matched? What scores? You know, what were the average scores of level two? Did they take the USMLE exams? How did they use their signals? How many programs did they apply to? Where are our alumni matching? Uh, what percentage of our students are matching at programs that they auditioned with? So they want to know about the ones who came before them. And as we talked about in our prior episode, um, we keep very extensive data and information about our past classes so that we can keep our students more informed. Um but I also keep national data, which is very helpful as well. And we can also compare our internal data to what's happening nationally in everyone.
SPEAKER_01And you go to a conference every summer that kind of gets you caught up on all that year to year, right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, I have two. I attend ACOM, um, which is for osteopathic medical schools. And one thing that I really love about ACOM is that we have a pre-conference for people who do what I do. So we spend a very intensive day um hearing from program directors, um, learning about the nuances of the new application so we can come back and give that information to our students. So I attend ACOM and then in RMP, the MAC, they have an annual conference where they just give us all of the data for the year so that I can come back and give that information to our students. It's very important that I stay up to date on what's happening in the MAC and residency world so that I can make sure our students are best equipped for their application process.
Hard Conversations Pivots And Match Day Joy
SPEAKER_01What's the hardest part of this process?
SPEAKER_00The hardest part is no pun intended, having those hard conversations. I do have a lot of difficult conversations in my roles. Um, sometimes I refer to myself as the bad guy. Um, I'm the bearer of bad news. Um, you know, if you're applying to a very competitive specialty and you don't achieve the level two or the step two score that you need to really be a competitive applicant, sometimes we have to have hard conversations. You know, what do we do now? How do we pivot to still get you to where you want to be? Um, maybe a student doesn't receive the number of interview offers that they were hoping to get. So they can't rank as many programs. You know, what do we do? How do we pivot? Um, my end goal, again, is to always get students to where they want to be, hopefully in their specialty and their program of choice, but there are obstacles. Um, no student goes through this process, you know, scot-free. Everyone encounters some sort of hurdle. And so it's having those difficult conversations. And sometimes it's just being a shoulder and a listening ear for students. Um, I had to keep a box of tissues in my office sometimes because it is an emotional process, you know, asking our students to spend a year um completing an application that's going to determine what they do for the rest of their life. Everything that they've worked for the past 20 plus years culminates in this one application process. And it's it's a struggling time, but also it's such a wonderful time watching students achieve their dreams. So while I do have those hard conversations, it ultimately does help us get them to where they want to be.
SPEAKER_01And where they want to be. This all culminates every March. So let's finish by talking about the fun thing. It's uh and there's a lot of again, a lot of nuance to this, but that application process gets complete early in the spring, the ranking process, and then it's in March, the third week of March, on Monday, medical students across the country, about 45,000 of them this year, find out if they matched. And then, of course, don't want to get too deep into there's a process for those that didn't to find a program. And there's a lot of students that uh nationally that they go through that process. But then those students that got good news on Monday, they don't find out where they're going until Friday. And we hold a big party. Tell us about that party and kind of what that looks like.
SPEAKER_00Match day is my favorite day of the year. It's the best day of the year, getting to see our students celebrate and find out where they're going. Um, you and I get to know where they're going a day before they do because we have to prepare for match day and put their results in their envelopes. Um, but we have a big celebration here on campus and where students come, they can bring as many family members and friends as they want, a support system, and students will open their envelopes at 11 a.m. Central time if they're at our party and find out where they're going to be spending, you know, the next three to seven years of their life and celebrate with the people who have supported them and helped them get to this process. Um, you know, some schools have their students go up on stage and announce the result. We allow our students to kind of process that in private and then they can go up and share if they want to. We'll put their picture up on the screen. Um, but it truly is the most joyous day of the year. I'm watching hundreds of people that's our students and their support systems and our employees as well really celebrate all of the hard work that our students have put in over the last four years. And in one second, they know where they're going and what they're going to be doing for the rest of their lives. It sounds very high pressure and high stakes, and it is, I'll, I'll be honest. And a lot of work goes into planning this event and this party. Um, but it it truly is my favorite day of the year, both professionally and personally.
SPEAKER_01It's mine too. And I'll clarify, you know, we talked about how this is a very regimented process and there's a lot of rules. It, the faculty and staff are sworn to secrecy that they are not allowed, we are not allowed to tell our students until 11 a.m. on Friday, even if we know where they're going. And that's always fun because we hear from stressed out students that I know you know where you want to go, but there's a significant penalty if a faculty or staff member tells a student where they're going before that embargo.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um, so that information is a really small circle of people on our campus. There's about four of us who know those results. And I tell students before match week on Monday, when you get your results, if you match, you are not going to hear from me. Don't reach out to me. They still do. They still text and say, Hey, Becca, you you know what's happening, but they know don't talk to me because I don't want to be put in that situation. Um, but I love on match day standing in the back of the room because we know where these students are going. And we know, you know, if it was their top choice or their second choice, whatever it may be. And so watching the students who we know are going to be so thrilled with their results is is so exciting. I kind of laser in on those students and and watch them take in all of their success.
SPEAKER_01It is quite the process and quite the journey. And we are very proud of you specifically and the work that we collectively have done. You know, you you carry a huge load in this, and deservingly, you know, you were honored last week at our graduation with a Standard of Excellence Award because of just how successful you have uh walked our students through this. But literally everybody in our medical school has a role in getting those students there. It is the ultimate destination of a really long and difficult and grinding journey.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it I say all the time, it takes a village to get our students from, you know, white coat to commencement and finding a job in the midst of that. Um, every person at NYTCOM truly plays a pivotal role in the success of our students. Um, I'm just so thankful and lucky that I get to play kind of a more intimate role in that final stretch for our students and get to know them and celebrate alongside them. But it truly takes every one of us to help our students succeed.
SPEAKER_01It does. And it is quite the exciting
It Takes A Village Closing Thoughts
SPEAKER_01journey. And it's really why we do all this. So we hope you've enjoyed our conversation. We hope for prospective students that you've got a little bit more insight on what that process is like and specifically how NYITCOM helps our students get to that finish line of medical school. You've been listening to the More Than a Medical School podcast on the Arkansas State Media Network. We're going to wrap things up. We thank you for joining us. We hope you've enjoyed our show. We hope to hear from you again next time.