TouroCOM Students Achieve 100% Match Rate

"This is the most successful residency match that TouroCOM has ever had, with graduates matching to many of the best-known and prestigious medical centers in the country,” said Dr. Kenneth J. Steier, clinical dean, TouroCOM-Harlem and dean and professor at the TouroCOM-Middletown Campus, who oversaw this year’s matches. “The success of our graduates is directly related to the high quality of our medical school program. Our students, faculty and staff are to be commended for their hard work and dedication."

Said Dr. Robert Goldberg, TouroCOM’s executive dean and professor:  “We salute the class of 2015.  TouroCOM is committed to training osteopathic physicians with an emphasis on practicing in underserved communities, and to increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in medicine. Another cornerstone of our mission is to graduate qualified osteopathic physicians into primary care residencies. To these ends, once again, we are succeeding by leaps and bounds.”

Sixty-seven percent of the class chose primary care, placing into specialties that include family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology. Sixty-two percent are staying in the New York metropolitan area, with a majority working in medically underserved communities.  Fifteen percent are underrepresented minorities.

Included among the area’s hospitals receiving TouroCOM graduates are New York Medical College at Metropolitan Hospital and Westchester Medical Center, Orange Regional Medical Center, Staten Island University Medical Center, Trinitas Hospital, New York University, Stony Brook Teaching Hospitals, Einstein Jacobi Medical Center, Icahn School of Medicine, and Palisades Medical Center. In other parts of the country, the graduates will be residents at University of Texas Medical Center, Brown Medical School, Drexel University, and Georgetown University Hospital.

One of the students who is thrilled about her match is Sha Yan, who came to the United States at age 10 from China. Yan will work at the prestigious Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ, in emergency medicine.  “It’s such a wonderful feeling knowing that all of our hard work has paid off and now we get to do what we’re truly passionate about,” said Yan, who hopes to do a fellowship in emergency ultrasound after residency. “I can’t wait to embark on this next journey.” 

Yan said she volunteered as an emergency medical technician in college but her interest in emergency medicine solidified last year during a rotation.  “I loved the ability to be hands-on with my patients and to be able to provide immediate relief or stabilization to any situation,” she said.

All of the TouroCOM students will become osteopathic physicians; however, they were eligible to apply for both allopathic (M.D.) and osteopathic (DO) residencies. The allopathic residency “matches” are made by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and the osteopathic matches by the National Matching Services (NMS). NRMP residencies are open to students at both allopathic and osteopathic medical schools. The NMS residencies are open only to DO students. Selections are based predominantly on student performance while on rotations at hospitals, as well as their national board scores.

TouroCOM is dedicated to mentoring students as soon as they begin their medical education. The deans and faculty work closely with the students to ensure that they receive a rigorous, hands-on medical education, and offer many programs that allow students to interact directly with the community. This exposure ultimately guides students through the process of successfully landing residencies at top institutions.

About the Touro College and University System

Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris and Florida. New York Medical College, Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/news/