Coordinated by the Office of Student Affairs and hosted by Associate Dean Michael Sampson, DO, the residency fair provided second-
and third-year DO students with the opportunity to gain residency and Match advice
from program directors, alumni and peers.
The Match—which occurs during DO students’ fourth year—determines where students will spend
the next several years as resident doctors. It is preceded by audition rotations,
applications and interviews.
The importance of audition rotations, in which students spend several weeks in a clerkship
during the third or fourth years of medical school, was emphasized by several panelists.
“Be punctual and on your A game the whole time you’re there,” Kakaty-Monzo said. “Engage,
ask questions, but not too many questions. “
Fourth-year DO student Giselle Pineiro , who has accepted a residency position at
the Georgia South Family Medicine residency program at Colquitt Regional Medical Center
in Moultrie, Georgia, encouraged students to use all of their clerkships as practice
sessions.
“Every time I stepped foot into a new hospital, I was auditioning,” she said.
Pineiro suggested students present themselves in a marketable way. She also advised
students to maximize their contacts and reminded them they are not alone.
“There’s a big network of people looking out for you,” she said.
Panelists offered additional advice such as arrive early and stay late while on rotations,
avoid saying anything negative about others and bring study materials (preferably
not on a cellphone) for making the best use of any downtime. The panelists also advised
students to become well-rounded candidates by taking time for volunteer opportunities
and outside interests. Panelists urged attendees to make sure their residency applications’
personal statements were honest and interesting.
The following residency programs participated in the GA-PCOM Residency Fair: AU/UGA
Medical Partnership at St. Mary’s Health Care System; Floyd Medical Center; Georgia
South Family Medicine Residency Program at Colquitt Regional Medical Center; Gwinnett
Medical Center; Houston Healthcare; Jefferson Health; Mercer University at Navicent
Health; Merit Health Wesley; Northeast Georgia Health System; PCOM MEDnet; Piedmont
Athens Regional Medical Center; and VITAS Healthcare.
PCOM alumni who served as panelists or represented their programs at the fair included:
Emma Atherton-Staples DO, PGY-3 at Floyd Medical Center; Nick Brinkman, DO, PGY-1
at Gwinnett Medical Center; Sang Dao, DO, PGY-2 at Gwinnett Medical Center; Lee Dinning,
DO, PGY-2 at Houston Healthcare; Sandeep Jalli, DO, PGY-2 at AU/UGA Medical Partnership;
Barbara Joy Jones, DO, faculty member at Gwinnett Medical Center; Shirley Payne Lizcano,
DO, PGY-4 at Jefferson Health; Ngoc Phan, DO, associate program director at Northeast
Georgia Medical Center; and Samuel Shapiro, DO, PGY-2 at Gwinnett Medical Center.
Established in 2005, PCOM Georgia is a private, not-for-profit, accredited institute of higher education dedicated
to the healthcare professions. The Suwanee, Georgia, campus is affiliated with Philadelphia
College of Osteopathic Medicine, a premier osteopathic medical school with a storied
history. PCOM Georgia offers doctoral degrees in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, and
physical therapy and graduate degrees in biomedical sciences, medical laboratory science,
and physician assistant studies. Emphasizing "a whole person approach to care," PCOM
Georgia focuses on educational excellence, interprofessional education and service
to the wider community. The campus is also home to the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center,
an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment.
For more information, visit pcom.edu/georgia or call 678-225-7500.
For more information, contact: Barbara Myers Senior Public Relations Manager Email: BarbaraMy@pcom.edu Office: 678-225-7532 | Cell:
770-309-0613