Former pre-med students matched with residencies

It’s called Match Day. On March 21, medical school students at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and across the country, opened envelopes and learned where they would spend their residencies.

The group included Grand Valley alumni who were in the first cohort of the Early Assurance Program. The program is a partnership between MSU and Grand Valley that grants early acceptance of up to six qualified Grand Valley students to MSU-CHM.

Alex Gilde, former Laker football player, found out he was matched with his first choice: Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners in orthopaedic surgery.

Others in the inaugural cohort include Beth Fetzer, matched with Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners for obstetrics and gynecology speciality; Bobbye Koning, headed for Med-Peds in Grand Rapids; Caleb Ortega, headed for the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center for anesthesiology; and Mitch Sydloski, Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners for family medicine.

The Early Assurance Program is for Grand Valley pre-medical students who are interested in practicing in an underserved area of medicine and with underserved populations. For more about the program, click here .