Apr 13, 2026 | School
Jonathan Anker, MD, PhD
Jonathan Anker, MD, PhD, was awarded Mount Sinai’s inaugural Resident/Fellow Article of the Year for 2025 for an article published in Nature Cancer.
The article, titled “Atezolizumab plus personalized neoantigen vaccination in urothelial cancer: a phase 1 trial,” was published in Nature Cancer on May 9, 2025.
Dr. Anker is a 2025 graduate of The Mount Sinai Hospital Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program. He is an Instructor in Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The article describes how researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine showed that their custom-made cancer vaccine, in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitor, is safe and able to spark strong immune responses in people with bladder cancer.
Their phase 1 study, led by Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, and Matthew Galsky, MD, adds to growing evidence that personalized vaccines could make existing cancer treatments more safe and effective. Click here to read the news release.
Dr. Anker is a medical oncologist specializing in the care of patients with genitourinary cancers, including bladder, prostate, kidney, and testicular cancer. His research focuses on tumor immunology and optimizing immunotherapeutics through laboratory, translational, and clinical studies.
A collaborative team at Mount Sinai, bringing together experts in immunology, oncology, genetics, and pathology, drove the study. The National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, the Cancer Research Institute, the Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy, and industry partners supported this study.
Apr 8, 2026 | School
Mitali Choudhary, MBBS
Mitali Choudhary, MBBS, is a physician from India and a first-year student in the Epidemiology & Biostatistics concentration in the Graduate Program in Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her background is rooted in clinical practice as a Medical Officer at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, India, where she navigated the complexities of oncology and patient care management.
In this Q&A, she explains why she decided to study public health at Mount Sinai and how the curriculum, mentorship, and opportunities outside of the classroom have allowed her to grow both personally and professionally and continue in a career in public health.
During the application process, was it easy to find information about the MPH program and get your questions answered? What resources did you use to make your decision?
When I began searching for graduate programs in public health, I wanted a school that combined academic rigor with practical opportunities. The application process at Mount Sinai’s Graduate School was straightforward, and easy to navigate. The program website provided clear information on curriculum requirements, faculty expertise, and career outcomes, and the admissions team responded promptly whenever I had questions.
Why did you choose to study at Mount Sinai?
I ultimately chose Mount Sinai because of its strong reputation in research, its location in New York City, and the clear commitment to addressing pressing public health challenges. The opportunity to learn in an institution embedded within a world-class health system was especially appealing. I felt confident that the MPH program would prepare me with both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed for a career in public health.
Can you tell us about a course that you found particularly interesting and why?
One of the courses I found particularly valuable was Epidemiology. The professor’s teaching style emphasized not only mastering foundational concepts but also applying them to real-world scenarios. Through case studies and hands-on data analysis assignments, I learned how to think critically about patterns of disease and health disparities. This course strengthened my ability to evaluate evidence and spurred my interest in pursuing research that translates into community-level change. This course coupled with other courses focused on bridging the gaps between health care and disparities gave me ways to work on my own solutions to address the problems that exist at a foundational level.
How are the opportunities for mentorship in the program?
Mentorship has been another defining feature of my experience. From the beginning, I was paired with a program advisor who took time to understand my academic goals and career aspirations. Informal conversations with professors after class have also been invaluable, as they are always willing to share advice and connect students with opportunities. In addition, the program’s alumni network has provided mentorship and guidance that extends beyond the classroom.
What activities are you pursuing outside the classroom?
Outside of academics, I have found a vibrant student community. I participate in student initiatives that bring peers together across public health concentrations. I also volunteer with local community health fairs, which allow me to apply what I am learning in the classroom to real-world service. Living in New York has added another dimension to my graduate school experience, as the city itself offers countless cultural and professional opportunities. Overall, my time at Mount Sinai has been deeply rewarding. The program has provided me with a rigorous education, supportive mentorship, and the chance to grow personally and professionally. I am confident that the skills I am building here will prepare me to make a meaningful contribution in the field of public health.
Apr 8, 2026 | School
“Mount Sinai offered an unparalleled training experience in a world-class academic environment,” says Hannibal Person, MD, FAAP. “I was drawn by the program’s strong focus on translational research, the diverse patient population in New York City that provided broad clinical exposure, and the mentorship from leaders who were at the forefront of combining clinical excellence with health outcomes research.”
Hannibal Person, MD, FAAP, spent eight years in training at The Mount Sinai Hospital, first as triple board resident (pediatrics, psychiatry, child psychiatry) from 2013-2018 and then as a pediatric gastroenterology fellow from 2018-2021.
In late 2020, the Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai began a Resident and Fellow of the Month Program with resident/fellow peer nominations solicited monthly and reviewed by a committee of GME leaders, and Dr. Person was the inaugural Fellow of the Month in November 2020.
Dr. Person is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle and the Medical Director of the Gut-Brain Health Program within the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Seattle Children’s Hospital. He also served as the Medical Director for the Center for Health Outcomes.
He is passionate about disorders of gut-brain interaction, including the development of novel care delivery models and therapeutics for children and adolescents with these disorders. We recently caught up with Dr. Person five years after his Fellow of the Month award to ask about his experience at Mount Sinai and his current work in Seattle.
What originally drew you to pursue your residency/fellowship specialty choice?
I was fascinated by the intricate connection between the brain and the gut, and how disorders of this axis profoundly impact a child’s quality of life. The opportunity to blend basic science, complex patient care, and novel therapeutics to manage conditions like functional abdominal pain and motility disorders was the primary draw.
Why Mount Sinai?
Mount Sinai offered an unparalleled training experience in a world-class academic environment. I was drawn by the program’s strong focus on translational research, the diverse patient population in New York City that provided broad clinical exposure, and the mentorship from leaders who were at the forefront of combining clinical excellence with health outcomes research.
What’s one lesson or skill you gained during training that you didn’t fully appreciate until after graduation?
The skill of system-level thinking and advocacy training taught me how to manage a single patient, but the Mount Sinai environment, particularly in quality improvement projects, showed me how to identify and address systemic barriers to optimal care, a perspective I now use every day to drive institutional change and address health disparities.
How did your residency/fellowship prepare you for the real-world challenges you now face in your specialty?
My training instilled a dual focus on subspecialty depth and interdisciplinary collaboration. The complex nature of my work, which requires coordinating care across pediatrics, behavioral health, and nutrition, was simulated through team-based rounds and institutional quality initiatives. This experience made me comfortable leading a multidisciplinary team and developing novel care delivery models.
Is there a piece of wisdom you wish you could go back and give your in-training self?
Clinical excellence is paramount, but understanding metrics, budgeting, and quality frameworks is essential to becoming a true leader and effectively implementing the innovations you are passionate about.
If you were to create a “survival kit” for incoming residents or fellows, what three items would you include?
- Theater membership
2. Noise-cancelling headphones
3. Blackout curtains
Can you share your favorite “Only in New York City” training memory?
I was fortunate to perform with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, including being a featured act at a show with the New York City Philharmonic at Lincoln Center.
What has been the most rewarding part of your career since completing training?
The most rewarding part has been establishing and leading the Gut-Brain Health Program. It is profoundly rewarding to see a novel, evidence-based care model come to life and directly address a significant unmet need for children and adolescents, leading to sustainable improvements in their daily lives.
What’s something you’re working on now—professionally or personally—that excites you?
I am leading an exciting new research initiative focused on using AI-driven behavioral interventions to address the ongoing needs of children and adolescents with disorders of gut-brain interaction.
Apr 8, 2026 | School
Shantheri Shenoy, MBBS, left, Associate Professor of Medicine (Hospital Medicine, Nephrology) and Associate Division Chief of Hospital Medicine at Mount Sinai West, and Brijen Shah, MD, Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education
Physicians are increasingly taking on roles that extend beyond patient care, as health care systems grow more complex and interconnected. Yet leadership and management skills are rarely part of formal medical training. At Mount Sinai, closing that gap has become a core focus of graduate medical education.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has built a continuum of leadership training anchored by its Graduate Medical Education Leadership Development Program, a yearlong initiative for residents and fellows. The school has also expanded those efforts with a more intensive, multi-year track developed in partnership with its Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
“Early-stage physicians want to enhance their effectiveness. They want what they do clinically to be impactful, but they’re also looking at leadership roles that allow them to improve outcomes across entire units or clinical lines of service,” says Brian J. Nickerson, PhD, JD, Senior Associate Dean for Master’s Programs and Director of the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
While medical training provides a strong foundation in clinical expertise, far less attention is given to how physicians lead teams and navigate complex care environments. “Leadership development is generally not part of the MD curriculum,” he adds. “The sooner clinicians are exposed to these concepts, the better positioned they are to apply them and build effective leadership skills over time.”
Investing in Physician Leaders
Now in its eighth year, Mount Sinai’s Leadership Development Program offers residents and fellows an educational experience focused on developing skills to guide hospitals and health systems through strategic and operational change.
Each cohort includes roughly 30 to 40 trainees from across disciplines who participate in monthly sessions with faculty and senior leaders.
“Early-stage physicians want to enhance their effectiveness. They want what they do clinically to be impactful, but they’re also looking at leadership roles that allow them to improve outcomes across entire units or clinical lines of service,” says Brian J. Nickerson, PhD, JD, Senior Associate Dean for Master’s Programs and Director of the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Dr. Nickerson describes the curriculum as deliberately hands-on rather than lecture-based, with a focus on skill development through self-assessment, feedback, and practical exercises. Participants are given protected time to step away from clinical duties and examine team dynamics, leadership practices, and how change is implemented within a hospital setting.
“Leadership is fundamentally a set of behaviors supported by tools,” he says. “Participants learn those tools and how to develop more effective behaviors aligned with best practices.”
Embracing a Systems Approach
Anthony Tanella, MD, MSH ‘20, was already thinking about how systems of care shape patient safety and care delivery during his anesthesiology residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital from 2016 to 2020. Before becoming a physician, he studied biomedical engineering and worked as an actuarial analyst, a role focused on risk and systems that continues to inform his approach to health care.
Today, as Director of Quality and Safety for Ambulatory Anesthesiology at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Tanella leads initiatives to improve patient safety and clinical operations. While at Mount Sinai, he participated in the GME Leadership Development Program, where he began to apply that systems-focused perspective in practical ways.
“My earlier background gave me some awareness that medicine has many dimensions beyond the individual patient encounter,” Dr. Tanella says. “If you want to influence outcomes at a broader level, you have to understand the larger system. I also received advice from leaders at the hospital, including a former department chair, who encouraged residents to step outside the operating room and develop other skills.”
During the program, he worked with residents and staff across Mount Sinai departments to improve communication around daily cases. He collaborated on an initiative to create a structured morning huddle that brought together anesthesiology and otolaryngology residents, nurses, and other team members.
“If you want to influence outcomes at a broader level, you have to understand the larger system,” says Anthony Tanella, MD, MSH ‘20. The GME Leadership Development Program “helped us consider how different people function in teams and how leadership styles can adapt to different situations.”
“The program helped us consider how different people function in teams and how leadership styles can adapt to different situations,” Dr. Tanella says. “I hadn’t really considered that before, how certain people work better together, or how you might adjust your own communication style depending on the team.”
In his current role at Yale, a systems-level perspective informs efforts to improve how clinicians use technology and coordinate across care settings. There, he helped create a role focused on clinicians’ use of information systems, including electronic medical records and communication tools. “That work requires stepping back and looking at how the system functions as a whole,” he says.
A More Intensive Track
Mount Sinai’s newer Health Care Administration, Leadership, and Management Fellowship, or HALM, is aimed at physicians seeking deeper, more formal training in health system leadership. Launched in 2023, the ACGME-accredited program is one of the first programs in the nation and among only nine programs nationally. It combines graduate medical education with the MHA curriculum in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Shantheri Shenoy, MBBS, Associate Professor of Medicine (Hospital Medicine, Nephrology) and Associate Division Chief of Hospital Medicine at Mount Sinai West, became the fellowship’s inaugural participant after already stepping into leadership within her department. She had prior training in quality improvement but wanted more formal preparation in operations, strategy, business development, and data analytics.
Dr. Shenoy was drawn to the program’s combination of coursework, hands-on experience through systemwide rotations, executive coaching, and mentorship from faculty, alumni, and industry experts.
“As a hospitalist and nephrologist, I care for inpatients every day,” Dr. Shenoy says. “This fellowship broadened my exposure from departmental leadership to system-level leadership. You begin to understand operations from an enterprise perspective—business plan development, strategic planning, care delivery models—all while keeping patients as the North Star.”
During the fellowship, she focused on initiatives related to discharge planning, workforce strategy, and care delivery across ambulatory and inpatient settings. Her capstone project centered on improving discharge-to-home rates at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West through data-driven process improvements.
Brijen Shah, MD, HALM Fellowship Director and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, says the program is designed to integrate academic training with real-world experience. The MHA curriculum provides a foundation in management and strategy, while GME offers opportunities to apply those tools to clinical and operational challenges across the Mount Sinai Health System.
“The fellowship gives physicians a clearer view of how care is delivered across the Mount Sinai Health System and the opportunity to work with multidisciplinary teams to address operational challenges and how care is delivered and organized,” says Dr. Shah, who is also a Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology) at the Icahn School of Medicine.
Dr. Shenoy credits mentors such as Dr. Shah, along with Mount Sinai’s broader mentoring culture, with helping shape her development as a physician leader.
“Mount Sinai has a culture of growing young leaders,” she says. “A leader doesn’t become successful by finding followers. A leader becomes successful by helping other leaders grow.”
She also emphasized the importance of interpersonal leadership skills.
“A leader must be compassionate. A leader must be emotionally intelligent. And most importantly, a leader must be humble,” she says.
Dr. Shenoy completed the fellowship in January 2026 and says she hopes eventually to serve as a chief medical officer or chief operating officer while remaining grounded in clinical care.
“You can’t lead from an ivory tower,” she says. “You need to stay connected to the frontlines to understand what’s truly happening.”
Updated on Apr 8, 2026 | Featured, School
Dan Kwon, MD, left, a third-year resident in Mount Sinai’s integrated Internal Medicine-Geriatrics track, and Nick Safian, MD, Chief Resident in Internal Medicine, who will pursue his geriatrics fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital after completing his chief year.
Nick Safian, MD, remembers when his grandparents began showing signs of dementia while he was in college. His family faced difficult decisions about where they would live, how to keep them safe, and how to preserve their independence. He watched the strain on his mother and her siblings as they searched for appropriate care.
“There were limited options, and my grandparents weren’t always treated with dignity in medical settings,” Dr. Safian says. “No one seemed to step back and look at how everything was affecting them or how it was affecting our family.”
When he entered medical school, he knew he wanted to work with older adults.
Dr. Safian is a resident in Mount Sinai’s integrated Internal Medicine-Geriatrics track (Med-Geri), a four-year pathway combining three years of internal medicine residency with a fourth-year fellowship in geriatrics. He currently serves as Chief Resident in Internal Medicine and will pursue his geriatrics fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital after completing his chief year.
An Integrated Approach to Training
Helen M. Fernandez, MD, Vice Chair of Education and Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, leads one of the nation’s largest geriatrics and palliative medicine training programs through the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. The Department has trained an estimated one in five geriatricians and palliative medicine physicians nationwide.
Dr. Fernandez sees the integrated Med-Geri pathway as part of a broader effort to strengthen the pipeline of clinicians by introducing geriatrics at the start of residency and reinforcing that focus throughout training. The need is pressing as the nation’s aging population expands even as fewer physicians enter the field.
The United States currently has approximately 7,300 board certified geriatricians, according to the American Geriatrics Society—about one specialist for every 10,000 older adults. In the 2025 National Resident Match Program, only 213 of 382 geriatric medicine fellowship positions were filled, continuing a trend in which roughly half of training spots fill annually despite rising demand.
“Many students may enter residency with an interest in aging, often inspired by personal experiences or close relationships with older adults,” Dr. Fernandez says. “However, if that focus isn’t reinforced, if they do not see mentors practicing geriatrics or do not have consistent clinical experiences in the field, it can fade.”
“Many students may enter residency with an interest in aging, often inspired by personal experiences or close relationships with older adults,” says Helen M. Fernandez, MD, Vice Chair of Education and Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. “However, if that focus isn’t reinforced, if they do not see mentors practicing geriatrics or do not have consistent clinical experiences in the field, it can fade.”
To sustain that early interest, the Icahn School of Medicine embedded structured exposure and mentorship directly into the Internal Medicine Residency. Close faculty guidance, Dr. Fernandez says, helps trainees see aging not as a niche focus but as central to medical practice.
Mount Sinai launched its Med-Geri pathway in 2020 as one of three pilot programs nationwide. The ACGME-accredited, four-year Primary Care-Geriatrics track introduces geriatrics at the outset of residency rather than as an afterthought and weaves aging-focused training across the residency.
Trainees complete six months of geriatrics training, participate in a continuity clinic focused on older adults, and then pursue a fourth-year fellowship offering advanced clinical experience and protected time for scholarship. About a dozen residents are enrolled across Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West.
High Satisfaction Despite Lower Pay
Recruiting geriatricians remains challenging. Despite requiring an additional year of fellowship training, geriatricians earn lower salaries than many other internal medicine subspecialists. The field has historically carried less prestige within academic medicine, and outcomes are often measured in stability and quality of life rather than cure. Visits typically involve extended conversations about cognition, safety, independence, and family dynamics.
Yet physicians who choose geriatrics consistently describe deep professional satisfaction, citing the intellectual demands of managing complex conditions and the meaningful connections formed with patients and families.
Dr. Safian says what appeals to him most about geriatrics is the stories patients bring into the exam room. “They have lived so much life,” he says. “Getting to know those stories and seeing how they guide the choices we’re making together invigorates me.”
He also finds fulfillment in supporting families as they navigate difficult decisions about safety and independence. “You’re helping families think through what matters most,” he says.
Dan Kwon, MD, a third-year resident in the program at Mount Sinai West, began volunteering with older adults long before medical school and built on that commitment during residency.
Growing up in a close-knit Korean American household, he watched his grandparents thrive through connection and community—his grandmother teaching knitting at a local senior center and his grandfather playing golf every other day. That example shaped his early understanding of healthy aging.
When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted those routines, he saw how quickly circumstances could change. His grandparents rarely left home, and Dr. Kwon delivered groceries to them twice a week, often serving as their only in-person contact.
As isolation increased, he noticed gradual changes in their energy, mobility, and emotional well-being. “Watching that contrast, seeing how the health system and social systems affect older adults, solidified my interest,” he says.
The experience reshaped his understanding of clinical care. Housing, transportation, family structure, and social connection, he learned, often shape outcomes as much as medical treatment.
Preparing for an Aging Nation
Dr. Fernandez frames the Med-Geri pathway within a broader demographic shift reshaping health care. Americans over age 65 account for nearly half of hospitalizations and face elevated risks of falls, delirium, medication complications, and functional decline. Most are treated by physicians without formal training in geriatrics.
The U.S Census Bureau projects that by 2030 one in five people in the United States will be over 65. That population now represents 34 percent of physician demand and is projected to account for 42 percent by 2034.
“We have to train clinicians to care for our increasingly older and sicker population,” Dr. Fernandez says. “Medical education must evolve to reflect who our patients are.”
To advance this transformation, physicians across all specialties must embrace a new approach to aging that prioritizes careful frailty assessment, aligns treatment with patient goals, and champions independence. “Geriatrics embraces that complexity,” she says.
Strengthening the Model
Dr. Fernandez attributes the program’s progress to close mentorship and consistent engagement throughout training. Residents who commit to aging care often become ambassadors within their programs, encouraging peers to consider the specialty and broadening exposure to geriatrics across disciplines, she says.
Nationally, the combined Medicine-Geriatrics pathway now includes about a dozen programs, with additional sites in development.
Dr. Fernandez advises institutions exploring similar models and shares lessons learned about implementation and long-term program development. Accrediting bodies have expressed support, and formal recognition of the model as a permanent national pathway could occur within the next two years.
That broader vision extends beyond residency training. With the launch of the ASCEND curriculum in fall 2024, the Icahn School of Medicine redesigned its MD program to integrate geriatrics and palliative care principles from the first year. Geriatrics fellows also serve as educators during inpatient and ambulatory rotations, reinforcing aging-focused care across clinical settings.
Ultimately, she says, geriatrics is not confined to a single discipline.
“Every specialty now cares for older adults,” she says. “Our responsibility is to prepare physicians who understand aging in all its complexity and can bring that perspective into whatever field they choose.”
Apr 7, 2026 | Featured, School
Two couples who met at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Ayman Mohammad and Morgan Steelman (left), and Jiwoo Park and Daniel Kwon (right), at Match Day, March 20, 2026.
It began with a shared connection: Jiwoo Park and Daniel Kwon, students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, met on the second day of orientation. When Ms. Park introduced herself as being from Colorado, her classmates told her she “had to meet Daniel,” who is also Korean American and from Colorado.
They learned they shared almost parallel lives: both grew up in the suburbs of Denver, and worked in biotech and pharmaceutical firms during their gap years. Ms. Park and Mr. Kwon soon started dating.
When it came to the point where they had to plan for where they wanted to do their residency training, Ms. Park and Mr. Kwon knew they wanted to match to programs that would allow them to stay together, a process informally known as Couples Match.
“The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Match is already a complicated algorithm, and attempting Couples Match is more complicated,” says Valerie Parkas, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at the Icahn School of Medicine. “The students have to put down on their rank list every possible combination of their programs. They need to think through factors that impact career decisions while considering their partner’s preferences also.”
Ms. Park and Mr. Kwon were not the only couple from the Class of 2026 navigating Couples Match. Morgan Steelman and Ayman Mohammad, too, had a romance that blossomed in medical school. They met on the first day, were in the same learning community, and quickly became close friends.
“By the spring of MS1 (first year of medical school), we were spending more time studying together on the 13th floor of the Annenberg building and playing a lot of ping pong in the student lounge,” says Mr. Mohammad. “We shared the same friend group, and it was obvious to them that we really loved each other before we even realized it ourselves!”
Valerie Parkas, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at the Icahn School of Medicine, speaking at Match Day on March 20, 2026, and giving the students a toast.
It was Match Day, March 20, when graduating medical students across the country learned where they would be placed for their residency. With bated breath, Ms. Park and Mr. Kwon, and Ms. Steelman and Mr. Mohammad, tore open their envelopes. Both couples were elated: Ms. Park and Mr. Kwon matched to The Mount Sinai Hospital—OB/GYN and plastic surgery, respectively—and Ms. Steelman and Mr. Mohammad to Massachusetts General Hospital—both in internal medicine.
Interestingly, the Class of 2026 saw more students participating in Couples Match than in prior years, remarks Dr. Parkas. “A constellation of factors somehow landed all these folks in one class! But we as advisors are ready to help them succeed together as partners in their next step of their medical and science careers,” she says.
What does it take to successfully navigate the NRMP Match as a couple? Dr. Parkas and the two graduating couples share their stories, tips, and advice.
Start thinking about Couples Match early
“We started thinking about couples matching together pretty early in the process, probably in the summer before residency applications were due,” says Ms. Park. “We’ve always supported each other in aiming high and chasing after our career goals, and we quickly realized that we wanted to stay close to each other throughout residency—which we anticipate will be some of the most challenging years of our medical training.”
Early communication and planning are key to both strong relationships and a successful Couples Match, says Dr. Parkas. This helps them not only decide where to apply, but also where they need to do “away electives”—fourth-year medical school clinical rotations at other institutions.
That conversation about planning looks different for every couple. “We never had a formal conversation about Couples Matching,” says Ms. Steelman. “However, we knew we wanted to be together beyond medical school and we were very upfront with the residency programs we were interested in. It was very fun to finally share with faculty that we were Couples Matching.”
A successful Couples Match might require compromises
Ideally, a successful match for couples sees both graduates placed in the same institution, or at the very least, institutions within the same city.
“We decided to apply to mostly the same programs and tried to cluster programs in big cities like New York City and Los Angeles to maximize our chances of overlapping interview invites,” say Ms. Park and Mr. Kwon.
“Even though we’re both in internal medicine, share similar values, and were looking for many of the same qualities in a program, there were still differences,” Ms. Steelman and Mr. Mohammad note. “As we moved further down our rank list, we had to seriously consider what kinds of professional compromises we might be willing to make for each other, which was not always easy.”
Ms. Park and Mr. Kwon both matched to The Mount Sinai Hospital—OB/GYN and plastic surgery, respectively. “We couldn’t be more excited!” says Mr. Kwon. “Throughout the entire application process, Mount Sinai has consistently been our number one program, and we’re both so grateful that we get to train here.”
“One piece of advice that really stayed with us came from a close friend: ‘It’s a gift to give your partner permission to put themselves first.’ That perspective helped us approach the process with more clarity and generosity,” add Ms. Steelman and Mr. Mohammad.
Applying to areas with multiple programs that are within reasonable commuting distances, strategizing where both partners will do away electives, as well as program signals (an option to express of interest in a program) will increase the chances of being near each other, says Dr. Parkas.
In addition, couples need to discuss if they’re willing to be in programs close to each other, but not in the same city, such as in New York City and Philadelphia, or Boston and Providence, she notes.
Leverage all resources at your disposal
“Your career and specialty advisors will be some of the best help you will have to navigate Couples Match,” says Dr. Parkas. At the Icahn School of Medicine, students can also seek out the Career and Professional Development leadership and the Office for Student Affairs. “The team meets with every couple together as they prepare for applying and as they rank their programs.”
Additionally, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has good resources, and things like Google Maps, Amtrak, and airport accessibility might even factor in should couples need to be flexible about making distances work, she adds.
“Katherine T Chen, MD, MPH, Vice Chair of Education in the OB/GYN department at Mount Sinai, was such an instrumental part of our journey—we couldn’t be more thankful,” says Ms. Park. “She was there to guide us through the entire process, checking in regularly and advocating for us as much as she could. Dr. Parkas was also such a great sounding board and mentor; she checked in regularly and made sure that we felt incredibly supported.”
“The most helpful resource for us was connecting with other couples who had already gone through the process, especially those at programs we were considering,” says Mr. Mohammad. “They told us how to best advocate for each other during interviews. Our faculty made sure we were being honest with each other and ourselves about our individual and shared goals.”
Don’t stress too much
After all, just making it through medical school as a couple to get to the point of Couples Match planning is a testament to a strong relationship. Focus on what makes the relationship special, and the pieces of the puzzle will fall in place.
“I’m truly so grateful that we got to go through medical school together,” says Mr. Kwon. “It was like having a study buddy, support system, and partner in crime, all in one person. In our preclinical years, it was so nice going through each course at the same time, truly being able to study hand in hand. Once we started clinical rotations and sub-internships in our respective specialties, it was so fun and fulfilling to be able to share stories from our day with one another over dinner.”
Ms. Steelman and Mr. Mohammad matched to Massachusetts General Hospital—both in internal medicine, with Ms. Steelman in the Primary Care track. “We’re elated, honored, and grateful!” says Ms. Steelman. “MGH was our number one choice. We think it is an amazing fit for both of us.”
In her years advising students at the Icahn School of Medicine, Dr. Parkas sees a similarity on what makes medical school romances work, and ultimately successful Couples Matches. “While I’m not sure I’m an expert on romance at medical school—I met my husband when we were residents and interns together—it seems what works for med school romance is the same as what improves any other romance: kindness, communication, humor… and talk about things outside of medicine!”
“Every relationship is different, so it’s important to be honest with yourself and your partner about what you want in this next chapter,” says Ms. Steelman. “It’s also worth acknowledging that the process can be exhausting, with so many hypotheticals to consider. Even though we ultimately matched at our top choice, we’re grateful we worked through those decisions together because it made our relationship stronger.”
