Fireside Chat with an NRMP Trailblazer
Melissa Garrett Mariano, DO '21
Melissa Garrett Mariano, DO, is an internal medicine resident physician at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM) in Biddeford, Maine. Dr. Mariano's past leadership roles include serving as Site Liaison at Maine General Medical Center Clinical Campus where she acted as a facilitator and student ambassador between the Office of Clinical Education and the then third-year students at UNE COM. She was also elected as the Class of 2021 Vice President of the Student Government Association at UNE COM. In 2021, Dr. Mariano was selected as the recipient of the Sauter Award of Graduate with Distinction, an honor sponsored by UNE COM Dean, for her demonstrated commitment to patient compassion and care.
In August Melissa Garrett Mariano, DO '21, who had been appointed to the board of the National Residency Match Program (NRMP), sat down to answer some of the burning questions we had about her new role and how UNE COM prepared her for the excitement and pressures of medical residency.
Tell us about yourself. How did you discover UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine?
I grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and received my undergraduate degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, where I studied global health and the pre-medicine curriculum, but my major was actually German. I took some time away from the health sciences to focus on liberal arts.
After graduation, I moved east to Portland, where I started working in a few research roles. I landed eventually at Maine Medical Center in a research coordinator role working in oncology clinical trials. At that time, I had a really excellent experience learning about medicine, having the opportunity to shadow physicians, and learning more about working professionally. I learned that UNE COM was just down the road, so I started by taking some online courses in anatomy and physiology and then applied to study medicine. I was very grateful and excited when I was ultimately accepted. So, three years after I graduated from college, I matriculated into UNE COM. I had some nice time to explore the world before diving into medicine.