(Courtesy of Touro University) Last week, the Class of 2024 at Touro University’s New York Medical College (NYMC) School of Medicine gathered on campus with family and friends for the culmination of years of hard work – the annual Match Day celebration. Along with graduating medical students across the nation, NYMC seniors learned where they were matched to medical residency programs and will continue their training for the next several years in their chosen specialties. Conducted annually by the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), the Match uses a computer algorithm to match the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency programs, to fill the available training positions at U.S. teaching hospitals.

Ninety-nine percent of the Class of 2024 successfully matched, and students will go on to train in 18 states and the District of Columbia at 77 different institutions, including at New York Medical College (NYMC) major clinical affiliates Westchester Medical Center and NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, as well as local clinical affiliates NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, Lenox Hill Hospital, Northern Westchester Hospital and Greenwich Hospital, They will also train at other major top tier, research-intensive, academic medical centers across the country, including Beth Israel-Deaconess, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General of the Harvard Medical School, Brown, Dartmouth, Mount Sinai, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Weil Cornell, New York University, and Yale.

The top career choices for the Class of 2024 were internal medicine, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, general surgery, psychiatry, radiology, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and neurology.

Shomer Shabbos Residency Matches

NYMC partners with its clinical sites in founding and promoting Shomer Shabbos medical residency training slots, which accommodate Shabbos observance while prioritizing patient care.

“New York Medical College and Touro University are proud to offer the largest number and variety of shomer Shabbos medical and dental residency training opportunities in the United States. I am always pleased on Match Day to see students avail themselves of this option for their training,” said Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and CEO of NYMC.

Six students matched to shomer Shabbos residencies at NYMC-affiliated sites: in internal medicine, radiology, pathology and pediatrics, including NYMC’s Ezriel Krohn who will do a preliminary medicine year before starting his shomer Shabbos residency in radiology.

“I began my college career at Touro undergrad where I received one-on-one support and advice. I chose to stay in the Touro system and attend New York Medical College because I heard the collaborative environment and concern for each student was the same,” said Krohn. “The professors and dean invested hours and hours to ensure my success and that of all my fellow students. From helping with residency application, interviews, spending hours explaining medical topics and encouraging me to pursue radiology as my career, I could not be more grateful. I loved all the courses in med school and all my rotations, but radiology is a great choice for me because I don’t have to give up on anything; it encompasses all the fields. You need to be up to speed on all medical areas to know what you’re looking for in order to make a diagnosis. I’m thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to pursue my dream career while also being present for my family on Shabbos with this shomer Shabbos residency slot. I know I’ll be doing extra shifts, but Shabbos is so important to me and they’re helping me make it work.”

An additional two students from NYMC’s Class of 2024 matched to shomer Shabbos residencies, both in internal medicine. Aharon Pechman is headed to Zucker School of Medicine Northwell Staten Island University and Yaakov Itzkowitz will do his residency at Mt. Sinai South Nassau Hospital.

Itzkowitz, who is interested in specializing in either gastroenterology or hematology/oncology, chose Touro’s New York Medical College initially because “I knew I’d have classmates with similar background and values to mine and an environment that is friendly to my way of life. In addition to those students, there are so many at NYMC from around the country who are not familiar with the Jewish lifestyle and the opportunities to make a Kiddush Hashem on a regular basis were so great.”

When it came to residency choices, Itzkowitz knew he wanted to try for shomer Shabbos. “As a father and husband, I wanted to be home with my family on Shabbos but beyond that, there are constantly halachic questions that come up when you are working in a hospital on Shabbos. Entering a shomer Shabbos residency, I know I will not have to worry about those issues. Although I won’t have shifts on Shabbos and Yom Tov, I’m planning to show my appreciation for the accommodations I will receive by taking the burden off others whenever possible. My peers will be program directors in the future and if they have a good feeling about the way I interact and perform my duties, they will be happy to accommodate the needs of other shomer Shabbos residents a decade or so from now.”