The TCU Burnett School of Medicine rolled out the red carpet for Matchfest on Friday. It was a rock ‘n roll-themed celebration for Match Day, the day medical students across the country find out where they ‘matched’ for their residency programs.
“Oh my gosh, it was so stressful this week,” med student Angela Abarquez said. “I did not sleep very well last night!”
Match Day wasn’t just a result of Abarquez’s hard work in medical school. It was also a reward for her perseverance. She lived at the Cooper Apartments in Fort Worth when a record 6-alarm fire swept through the building last June, displacing more than 800 people. Among them, 40 TCU Burnett School of Medicine students.
Abarquez said she lost many things in the fire, but gained something, too.
“I remember just thinking to myself during that time, one day at a time. Like, what is the small task I can tackle today, and still trying to stay present in all of my rotations,” Abarquez recalled. “So I definitely learned how to be resilient.”
Mariah Drown was on a med school rotation out-of-state when she lost everything in her fifth-floor apartment to the fire.
“I think it taught me there are things out of my control, and what really matters is how I am with my family and with the patients that I serve,” Drown said. “That’s in my control.”
Drown matched in emergency medicine at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. Abarquez matched for internal medicine at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans.
This year, the TCU Burnett School of Medicine held onto its 100-percent match streak. All 59 graduating students matched.