What drew you towards your particular specialty?
I have always been passionate about being a generalist - I like to know as much as I can and have an informed opinion and utility across multiple disciplines. I'm also passionate about patient education and prevention and I feel like family medicine provides a great outlet for learning how to skillfully manage and advise a large variety of patients across a spectrum of wellness. High quality primary care, I believe, is the answer to a majority of our mounting cost of care concerns in medicine and I want to best learn to provide this compassionate, comprehensive, cost-effective care. I contemplated going into Emergency Medicine, for a long time, for the similar diversity in patient population and skillsets, but as I got closer to needing to make a decision, sentiments like those from Joseph Malin's 1895 poem "Ambulance Down In The Valley" (which you can find recited by John Denver on YouTube) started becoming more and more my anthem.
Where did you set-up to learn your Match Day results? Were you able to be with any friends or family?
I was cradled in the arms of my big comfy chair in the living room, computer on my lap, sweating, and unfortunately socially distanced from most of my loved ones. I tuned in to see my incredible, and highly attractive, class officers and friends give delightful toasts to our class on the Match Day live stream. My little sister ran downstairs and yelled for my dad to come join from his home office. Momma was at work. I was luckily able to pop some champagne with the Lads via FaceTime afterward.
How nervous were you on Match Day waiting for the clock to strike 12:00 PM?
Very. For me, I think it was essentially the first and last anxiously anticipated release of anything in medical school that is of real substance – i.e. Not just a grade or a number.
What were your initial reactions when you learned your results? How did you share them?
I had such mixed emotions because I liked each of my different top programs for different reasons, but overall I think I felt a sense of relief. All of these years of hard work seemingly manifested in a single e-mail. One of the things that really stood out the most, emotionally, was just how lucky I was to be able to train so close to my family and friends, only an hour from my sister in CT. Like many of my classmates, I made plenty of calls and sent lots of texts and e-mails and, of course, shared the exciting news with Facebook.
What excites you about your residency program?
Well besides the fact that it checked so many of my aforementioned boxes, I feel just incredibly grateful to train with such an amazing group of people. I recently video chatted with my incoming co-residents and I'm already feeling so impressed and inspired. The culture of the program is top notch. Also hugely exciting is the fact that I'll be joining UNE alumna, Amy Callahan, DO, from whom I cannot wait to learn. Ultimately, I am excited because I think training with the Brown Family Medicine team will help me become the kind of doctor I want to be and help me to amplify my ability to impact positive change in the world.
Justine Lazatin '20 and Marissa Lown, DO '20 celebrating Match Day