College of Medicine celebrates Match Day

Fourth-year students in the College of Medicine gathered with family, faculty and friends to celebrate National Residency Match Day on Friday, March 21.

138 members of the COM Class of 2025 matched at prestigious medical systems in Ohio and across the country. A third of the students matched with affiliated institutions and nearly half will complete their residencies in Ohio.

Students matched into residencies in family medicine, internal medicine, orthopaedic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, psychiatry and other specialties. 

“Today is the highlight of a four-year year journey for our students who have had the opportunity to train at elite healthcare systems in the Greater Cleveland region and throughout Northeast Ohio,” said NEOMED President John Langell, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.

Marc Basson, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., dean of NEOMED’s College of Medicine, stated, “Our faculty are extremely proud of our students, as Match Day marks an important milestone in the careers of these future physicians.”

During the Match Day program, the class speaker was announced, along with College of Medicine gonfalonians, who will carry the College flag (or gonfalon) during the May 3 Commencement, and faculty hooders, who were chosen by the class to bestow doctoral hoods during the Commencement ceremony.

Mark Fusillo was selected by his peers to deliver an address as class speaker during the College of Medicine awards ceremony on May 1.

Commencement hooders elected by students are:

• Mariquita Belen, M.D., assistant professor, Family and Community Medicine
• Feng Dong, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, Biomedical Sciences
• Austin Frederickson, M.D., FACP, associate professor, Internal Medicine
• Marcus Julius, M.D., instructor, Biomedical Sciences
• Paul LeCat, M.D., professor, Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
• Jeffrey Mellott, Ph.D., associate professor, Biomedical Sciences
• Rupesh Raina, M.D., professor, Internal Medicine
• Corrie Stofcho, M.D., clinical associate professor, Pediatrics; assistant dean, Student Affairs, College of Medicine

Four students, who will graduate at the top of their class, earned the title of gonfalonian for Commencement. They are:

• Anthony Baumann
• Kristen Septaric
• Tarik Whitham
• Aaron Yun

Congratulations to all!