From Bellaire to Baylor: Match Day 2018

Bellaire High School graduates and Baylor College of Medicine students (from left) Tony Deng, Allison Khoo and Matthew Bruce were excited to open their envelopes on Match Day. (Photo: Agapito Sanchez) 

On Friday, students from Baylor College of Medicine Class of 2018 gathered outdoors, wearing nice outfits and nervous smiles. Their families were waiting with them and the anxious energy and excitement on Match Day is, as always, palpable.

Match Day, the annual day when medical students across the country find out where they’ll spend their residency, is comparable to New Year’s Eve, complete with a countdown to 11 a.m. when envelopes containing life-changing news can officially be torn open.

We took a few moments to chat with these Bellaire High School grads – Tony Deng, Allison Khoo and Matthew Bruce - before and after Match Day. These students spent the last few years at Baylor College of Medicine and are now heading off to different programs around the country. (Note: Their answers have been shortened.)

Tony Deng matched with the Internal Medicine program at Baylor College of Medicine. (Photo: Agapito Sanchez) 

Tony Deng

Tony Deng spent most of his childhood in Bellaire, starting with Horn Elementary for fifth grade and then Lanier for middle school. He graduated from BHS in 2010 then went on to Rice University where he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Bioengineering. Tony received his first-choice match and is looking forward to studying Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

What inspired you to go to medical school?

Math and science had always been my strong suits. I chose to study Bioengineering because the field combined the principles of basic math and sciences with ingenuity and technical skills in order to advance medical diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. While Bioengineering provided the intellectual challenges and offered the satisfaction of a tangible final work product, I realized that I wanted to be on the frontlines of patient care.

By the end of my sophomore year at Rice, I made the decision to pursue medicine. With Texas in-state tuition and my immediate family in Bellaire, I wanted to remain close to home. I knew Baylor had a great reputation for its research and clinical training. It was a no-brainer for me.

Best medical school memory?

Medical school is a time of transformation filled with indelible experiences. Some of my favorite memories have been from interacting with patients at Ben Taub. I gain the most sense of accomplishment when I feel like I have empowered patients with the knowledge to take control of their illnesses.

During one encounter on my Internal Medicine rotation, we had a middle-aged patient with severe systemic sclerosis, an autoimmune disease. Prior to being bed-bound and requiring assistance with her activities of daily living, she had worked multiple jobs every day to try to put her kids through college.

By the time our team saw her in the hospital, she looked emaciated and many of her organs were beginning to fail. When we discussed with her the prognosis, she told us her only regret was that she may not be able to see her youngest child attend college. The grace and bravery that she demonstrated and her steadfast dedication to her family during such a vulnerable time were admirable. It taught me that in medicine, we are not just treating diseases that we are accustomed to reading about in textbooks, but caring for patients with unique sets of experiences, life stories, values, beliefs and relationships.

Passions and dream career?

Within Internal Medicine, I currently have an interest in Gastroenterology. During medical school, I enjoyed working on clinical research projects alongside some great mentors, so I hope to continue that aspect into my future career in academic medicine. In medical school, some of my best clinical experiences have been at Ben Taub General Hospital. Working with this special patient population is extremely gratifying and reminds me why I chose to go into medicine.

Baylor College of Medicine class president Justin Cardenas ready to count down to 11 a.m. on Match Day, when the board can officially be torn open and envelopes opened. (Photo: Agapito Sanchez) 

Favorite thing about Houston? Favorite thing about growing up in Bellaire?

Houston is a multi-cultured city. Having lived in Houston for so long, I took this for granted until I visited other places across the country during residency interviews.

Bellaire is a friendly, tight-knit community. I remember when we first moved to Bellaire, our neighbors went out of their way to get to know us and help incorporate us into our new neighborhood. We had annual potluck parties where our entire street was blocked off. We would invite Bellaire Police and Bellaire Fire to join us. The firefighters would give the children a tour of the firetruck and ambulance. Everyone seemed to enjoy the camaraderie.

More recently after Hurricane Harvey hit, I was impressed and humbled by the outpouring of support from neighbors who offered to provide food, shelter, tools, equipment, manpower, or whatever was needed to help one another start the road to recovery after such a devastating and traumatic event. The spirit of altruism, perseverance and resilience embodied by this community makes me proud to be a Houstonian and a member of the Bellaire community.

Advice for anyone considering medical school?

Be well-rounded and diversify your interests. Don’t be caught up in the numbers game or worrying about checking off boxes to get into medical school.

Work hard. A mentor once told me that in his experience, no one has gotten hurt by going that extra mile to improve him or herself. Always look for ways to become better at what you do. My favorite quote from a book that I read called When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is: “You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving.”

Allison Khoo matched to Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis for Interventional Radiology. She’ll be going there after a preliminary year in general surgery at Methodist Dallas. (Photo: Agapito Sanchez) 

Allison Khoo

Allison Khoo moved to Bellaire with her family in 2007 so she and her younger sister could be zoned to BHS. She attended West University Elementary School, River Oaks Baptist School and Lanier Middle School. After graduating from Bellaire in 2009, she went to Duke University for college, where she studied Biology. Allison says she’s thrilled to have matched to Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis for Interventional Radiology. She’ll be going there after a preliminary year in general surgery at Methodist Dallas. 

What inspired you to go to medical school?

My family has a long history of encouraging careers in STEM fields, so to be honest medicine has always been on the short list of careers for me. I have been drawn to the idea of being a physician since I can remember, but it wasn't until college when I decided to find out more about the job.

I volunteered as an EMT in college, and the patient and physician encounters I had during that experience inspired me to go to medical school. When it came time to pick a school, I cared most about two factors: clinical training and affordability. BCM excels in both of those categories. I loved my hands-on, high-volume clinical training at Ben Taub General Hospital. And with the lowest average student debt of all private medical schools in the country, BCM trainees can choose their specialties and residencies based on their interests rather than their financial situation.

Best medical school memory?



I had the opportunity to be part of the interventional neuroradiology treatment team for a patient being followed for an asymptomatic brain aneurysm. I saw him multiple times at different stages of his treatment and was there to help explain the disease, navigate treatment and surveillance options, perform minimally invasive treatment, and follow the patient post operatively. Beyond being intellectually stimulating, the experience was personally fulfilling. When the patient leaped out of his seat at his post-operative clinic visit to hug me, I was so moved. It's a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Passions and dream career?

During medical school I was fortunate to get exposed to the field of Interventional Radiology (IR). In this specialty, imaging modalities like x-ray, CT, and ultrasound are used to guide minimally invasive procedures to treat disease all over the body that might otherwise require open surgery. When I think about my dream career I remember the mentors I've had in medical school who have exemplified strong patient communication, clinical decision-making and technical prowess. My dream career is to practice IR much like my mentors do, in an academic setting where I can have meaningful patient interactions, mentor trainees, and spearhead meaningful clinical advancements in the field.

The fourth-year medical students at Baylor College of Medicine. See Match Day 2018 by the numbers here. (Photo: Agapito Sanchez) 

 

Favorite thing about Houston and about growing up in Bellaire?

My favorite thing about Houston is the food! It's amazing that you can get any type of cuisine at high quality without leaving the city. My favorite part of living in Bellaire is seeing the neighborhood. I love to take walks up and down Newcastle St. and see my neighbors at Evelyn’s Park spending time with their children and pets. 

Advice for anyone considering medical school?



Consider that after four years of undergraduate training, you have at least seven years of training ahead during which you will be paid either nothing or far less than your peers with similar educational backgrounds. You will probably work harder than your friends from college. For example, having both Saturday and Sunday off in the same week is a "golden weekend," simply because of the rarity of this occurrence. At some point, someone will remind you that 40 hours/week is considered a full-time job and it will blow your mind because you worked that much in three days.

During medical school (and for the first part of residency, I would guess), you will feel incompetent most days as the learning curve is steep. My advice is to weigh these costs against the joys of being a physician. Make sure that the sense of fulfillment and excitement of serving patients as their doctor is for you greater than the costs.

There is both a science and an art of medicine, and each aspect offers great satisfaction and meaning. If these are worth the costs for you, then definitely go to medical school and don't look back. Find things, both in medicine and outside of medicine, that will keep you grounded on the days that are hard.

Matthew Bruce matched with the Internal Medicine program at Northwestern, his top choice. (Photo: Agapito Sanchez) 

Matthew Bruce

Matthew Bruce graduated from Bellaire High School in 2010. He describes his K-12 education as “truly brilliant” and recognizes the exceptional teachers he had at Herod Elementary School, T.H. Rogers Middle School and at Bellaire. It was at BHS that he met his future wife and several of his best friends. He went on to Texas A&M University and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and minors in mathematics and chemistry. Next he will be heading to Northwestern in Chicago for the Internal Medicine program, his number-one choice. He ultimately plans to pursue a career in Cardiology.

What inspired you to go to medical school?

I committed myself to medical school because I valued medicine as a truly respectable profession in which I was utilizing my talents toward the benefit of others and could see myself doing for the rest of my life. I had an affinity for math and science and studied engineering in college. My decision on medical school was a collective result of multiple experiences throughout my later years in high school and early undergraduate life.

Best medical school memory?

Medical school is full of extraordinary experiences: learning alongside some of the brightest individuals in the world, struggling through exams with these same individuals, donning the white coat in the hospital, meeting your first patient, delivering a baby into your arms, holding a human heart in your hands.

A gentleman I will never forget was a patient at Ben Taub with a large tumor invading his lungs. Sparing the other details, I remember walking into his room each morning around 6 a.m. and being greeted with a huge smile and a fist bump, and then getting to hear about “Houston back in the good ole’ days…”.

Medical students eagerly waited to open their envelopes near the board on Match Day. (Photo: Agapito Sanchez) 

Favorite thing about Houston? Favorite part about growing up in Bellaire?

We are the most diverse metropolitan city in the country, which perhaps contributed to my love of food. I believe we have the best food in the country, notably our Tex-Mex and pho. We also have the best sports teams.

Bellaire is an outdoor-friendly city/neighborhood and I love that people are always jogging or walking their dogs down the street. There are also many beautiful neighborhood parks and great restaurants.

Advice for anyone considering medical school? 

Reflect on your reasons for choosing medicine and then explore the different fields. Once you’ve chosen, pursue the path with 100 percent conviction. Yet, maintain yourself throughout the process – remember what makes you happy, whether that’s traveling or painting or pick-up basketball - and hold onto that.

See more about Match Day 2018 at Baylor College of Medicine. Also, read medical students’ Alexandra Ward and Craig Thomas’ story about their Match Day 2018 experience, following their recent wedding.