One-third of medical school’s first graduates to remain in region

The bad news first: Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM) cancelled its first ever Match Day celebration and moved its first graduation to June because of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Now, the good news: More than a third of the graduating physician class of 120 will remain in the tri-state region of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona, helping to address a persistent physician shortage in the southwest.

Graduation, which had been set for May 8, has been postponed to Friday, June 5, said BCOM President John Hummer. Three weeks before then, on May 14, BCOM “will assess the local, state and national requirements as they pertain to COVID-19 and make a final determination on whether to hold the ceremony,” Hummer said. “Regardless, the diplomas will state May 8 as the official date of the granted degree. We will not allow this pandemic to prevent us from celebrating and honoring the Class of 2020.”

Even without a public celebration, BCOM’s graduating class learned where they will first practice as doctors and complete the next phase of their medical training in late March, said BCOM Director of Communications & Marketing Nadia Whitehead.

The Class of 2020 applied to residency programs throughout the country, BCOM said. Multiple prestigious placements include residencies at Honor Health in Phoenix, anesthesiology at Baylor Scott & White in Temple, Texas, and emergency medicine at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

More than a third of the class — 41 doctors — will remain in the Arizona, New Mexico and Texas regions, BCOM said. Many graduates will remain close to home, pursuing their residencies at Las Cruces’ Memorial Medical Center and MountainView Regional Medical Center, Albuquerque’s University of New Mexico Health Science Center and El Paso’s Paul Foster School of Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Science Center.

“These outstanding results attest to the mission and vision of BCOM,” Hummer said. “We established this medical school to improve health and wellness within our region. Our goal is to maintain strong ties with our alumni, especially those with residencies outside of our mission region, and encourage them to pursue future opportunities in our mission area upon the completion of their residencies,” he said.

The following are some additional highlights from the Class of 2020’s residency results:

• 18 graduating physicians will receive their residency training in Las Cruces, Albuquerque and El Paso.

• 27 graduating physicians will pursue family medicine, a physician specialty that is critically low in the U.S.

• 14 graduating physicians will pursue emergency medicine, serving on the frontlines of health care in emergency rooms and departments.

BCOM graduates will pursue residencies in the following specialties: anesthesiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, general surgery, neurology, neuromusculoskeletal medicine, radiology, ophthalmology, urology, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, pediatrics, psychiatry, orthopedic surgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation.

For more information, visit bcomnm.org.