Three paths, one moment: Burrell graduates match and move forward

Students enter medical school knowing they are in it for the long haul.

After already completing a four-year degree, they commit to years of classroom work followed by hands-on training in residency — the moment when everything becomes real. But unlike choosing a medical school, where they have full control, residency comes with uncertainty.

They don’t get to choose where they go. They find out.

On March 20, that moment arrived.

At 10 a.m. on Match Day, medical school graduates across the country opened envelopes revealing where they would spend the next phase of their lives. Earlier that week, they had learned whether they matched at all. But Friday, that was the moment it became real.

“They're all going to open their envelopes,” said Bill Pieratt, dean and chief academic officer at Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine in Las Cruces, in the buildup to 10 o’clock. “Having seen them work so hard for the last four years, I know what it takes to get into school. I know what it takes to get through school. And now we’re seeing all of their hard work pay off. Commencement, graduation, is really a big celebration. But it’s really more for the families. Today is about them, finding out where they're going for residency and getting to celebrate that.”

Behind that moment is a complex, algorithm-driven process that matches student preferences with hospital rankings. Some land their first choice. Others don’t.

But all of them arrive at the same place: the start of their careers as physicians.

At Burrell, those paths look different — shaped by diverse backgrounds, experiences and goals.

Military match

For Nereus Noshirwani, the path wasn’t always medicine.

A Las Cruces native and graduate of Las Cruces High School, he began his college career at Indiana University before transferring to Arizona State to study business.

“I actually was pursuing business initially,” Noshirwani said. “I did that for a couple of years and then ended up changing. My dad is a doctor, so I always considered it as something that was interesting to me, but ultimately decided I wanted to pursue business for a while. I didn't think that that was really going to be the path to me, so I ended up changing.

“Business would have been a good path, but ultimately it just wasn’t fulfilling. I ended up wanting something more. I wanted to provide more value. I considered something like the fire department, or in the military and somehow found my path to become a military doctor.”

That path led him to Burrell through the Health Professions Scholarship Program, a military-backed route that would shape both his education and his future.

“You swear in as a reservist before you start medical school and then the military pays for your school and you do a training every year,” he said. “And now I'll actually do a military residency and then serve as a military doctor.”

Noshirwani matched at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he will serve on active duty in family medicine, with plans to pursue an emergency medicine fellowship.

“I go in my military uniform to work as a doctor and I serve the military population in family medicine,” he said.

His time at Burrell helped prepare him for that responsibility, especially the hands-on opportunities in rural New Mexico.

“I think the most valuable thing at Burrell is third year,” he said. “You get to go out to rural New Mexico. I went to Roswell and Artesia, where there's not that many people to serve the population, so I got to do a lot of cool stuff that you don't get to do as a medical student.”

He assisted in surgeries, delivered babies and gained experience typically reserved for later stages of training.

“As a third-year medical student, I think it was a pretty rare experience,” Noshirwani said. “There was a lot of hands-on. It’s just you and the doc doing everything. There's no one in the way.”

Now, the stakes are higher.

“You can't let off the gas for a day,” he said. “You take a day off, you might fail something, you might get behind, and you basically have to be perfect all the way through. I think it's going to be great to finally stand on my own two feet and make the call as a doctor and start gaining that confidence and be able to provide value.”

Students lifting each other

For others, the journey has been defined by the people alongside them.

Mason Briggs, Tylyr Cromedy and Elizabeth Muhammad didn’t just go through medical school, they did it together, supporting one another along the way.

That sense of community, they say, is central to the Burrell experience.

Briggs (urology) and Cromedy (family medicine) will continue that journey side by side after matching at St. Joseph’s in Stockton, California. Muhammad is also headed to California, matching in orthopedic surgery at Riverside University Health Systems.

For Briggs, the draw to Burrell began with its mission and its patient population.

“That was really appealing to me with Burrell, especially the marginalized populations, and the population in New Mexico is super unique,” Briggs said. “I think it set us up really well for dealing with rural medicine, dealing with the Latino population, and it's going to prepare me pretty well for Stockton.”

Cromedy felt that support from the start.

“I felt that from day one, even just doing my interviews, that was something that kept me going,” she said. “It's held true all the way through. I felt we supported each step of the way and felt like everybody in our class was rooting for one another.”

All three came to medicine through non-traditional paths — something Burrell emphasizes in its approach.

“One of the things I love the most about Burrell was probably the mix of different people that come here,” Muhammad said. “You get a lot more non-traditional students at Burrell. I think they really lean into holistic view in the application process. It’s not just looking at your GPA. It's not just looking at test scores. They really do take the time to look at the whole person.”

Muhammad, for example, began her career as a chemical engineer before finding her way into orthopedics.

“I wasn't initially pre-med, and then I kind of stumbled into my job in orthopedics that I had before this,” Muhammad said. “I was a scribe, and I didn't know anything about orthopedics when I got the scribing job, but that is what led me to applying into medical school. I knew I wasn't happy in chemical engineering.”

That diversity of experience strengthened the group.

“We were really able to build strong connections as a group, and I think that's because we are so diverse,” Briggs said. “Medicine is our common unifier, but that's it.”

Even as they faced challenges, including limited opportunities for DO students in certain specialties, they pushed forward.

“But I think things are changing,” Muhammad said. “We take the same tests, we do the same boards. I’m hoping to just keep chipping away at the glass ceiling… I wasn't confident on Monday when I opened the email. I wasn't sure what was going to happen.”

Now, uncertainty has given way to opportunity.

“I felt like during fourth year, I'm ready,” Cromedy said. “Put me in coach. I was ready to just make that next leap in my career… I’m really excited for this new chapter.”

Couple match

For Kevin Chih and Jazmin Wright-Zornes, Match Day came with an added layer of complexity. They entered the process as a couple.

Couples matching allows applicants to link their preferences in hopes of landing in the same place, or at least close to it. It’s a more complicated path, with more variables and more risk.

For them, it worked.

Both matched at Corewell Health in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Wright-Zornes will enter internal medicine in her home state, while Chih begins his path in general surgery, far from his native San Diego.

Like many of their classmates, they were drawn to Burrell by its mission and its connection to the community.

“I wanted to go to a medical school where I could really get involved with the underserved and I think Burrell's mission helps me accomplish that,” Chih said.

“I'd also say the community involvement, being part of Las Cruces was so much fun,” Wright-Zornes said. “During our third year, during our clerkship, we were actually out in the hospitals and the clinics and learning from the people that serve Las Cruces.”

Their time in Las Cruces extended beyond the classroom. They volunteered at local soup kitchens and participated in vision screenings for children in need.

Now, they’ll take that shared experience with them into the next phase of their lives — together.

“Learning how to be doctors in the same place is going to be great,” she said. “We're there for 80 hours a week. It'll be nice to see him every once in a while.”

Three different paths.

A military commitment.

A shared journey of classmates.

A couple building a future side by side.

All converging on the same moment — the opening of an envelope, the start of something new.

For these Burrell graduates, Match Day wasn’t just about where they’re going. It was about everything it took to get there, and the lives they’re now ready to shape.