Creighton Medical School Graduates Learn Their Fate at Match Day

Thursday, March 18, is National Residency Match Day, when medical school graduates across the country learn where they'll be spending the next few years of their lives. At Creighton University Medical Center, more than 100 graduates of the School of Medicine will gather to receive envelopes containing their residency matches.

For one graduate, Match Day will be the culmination of a career at Creighton University and Creighton University Medical Center that reflects a passion for charity. When Kumar Desai embarked on his medical career at Creighton, he also started a health education program called Project C.U.R.E.
(Creighton Medical United in Relief Efforts). Through Project C.U.R.E., medical students volunteer with local organizations and travel to developing areas in Peru and India to provide health education and primary prevention services to minority populations. Students collect and distribute food, clothing, medical supplies and education to underserved communities. Since its inception just four years ago, more than 200 Creighton medical students have participated in Project C.U.R.E.

"By getting involved in community activities, Creighton medical students serve as role models for young people, helping them understand there are many opportunities available to them when they stay in school and pursue a career," said Desai. On March 18, Desai will learn, along with his classmates, what and where his residency will be. He is hoping to specialize in internal medicine.

"Project C.U.R.E. is one of the many service projects in which our medical students are involved," according to Michael G. Kavan, Ph.D., associate dean for Student Affairs at Creighton's School of Medicine. "One hundred percent of our students participate in voluntary service projects," he said. With regard to National Match Day, a graduate's community service is important, says Kavan. "Residency programs are looking for well-rounded medical students who are not only skilled clinically and academically but who have a solid commitment to serving the community," he said. Last year, 95 percent of Creighton's School of Medicine graduates matched to residencies in their specialty of choice.

Creighton University Medical Center was recognized for outstanding efforts in meeting the medical needs of people not served by traditional health-care systems. The School of Medicine received the prestigious Outstanding Community Service Award for 2003 from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Creighton University Medical Centeršs community programs serve more than 460,000 patients annually, providing more than $26 million in free or unreimbursed health care to the underserved.