‘We work so hard on this day’: Over 100 Omaha medical students learn about their residency on match day
OMAHA, Neb. (Nebraska) — For medical students like Sagar Chapagein, who started his medical journey to become a doctor on the UNMC summer program, Match Day is a big deal.
“We go through four years of medical school,” he said. “We work so hard for this day.”
Nebraska native and UNMC medical student Natasha Hongsermeier-Graves agrees.
“I am the first person in my family who not only received a four-year university degree, but also a doctorate in medicine,” she said. “I hope I made my family proud.”
Each of them has their own story about how they got there. Chapagein immigrated to the US from Nepal with the dream of becoming a doctor. He moved from community college in Baltimore to Cornell, Harvard and Johns Hopkins before returning to UNMC as a medical student.
“I had no idea that I would later return to Nebraska to attend medical school,” Chapagein said. “I wonder how things are going.”
Hongsmeyer-Graves moved to medical school after wanting to become a veterinarian.
“I learned that I really enjoy interacting with my patients and being able to talk to me,” she said. “Cattle and horses aren’t that good at it, but humans can.”
She recently completed a rotation in India.
They both share this advice for future medical students.
“I think anything is always possible if you are focused and committed to your goals,” Hongsmeier-Graves said.
“Keep up the excitement,” Chapagein said. “Work hard and if that’s what you really want to do, it’s 100% worth it.”
Chapagein was coterminous with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Hongsmyer-Graves was coterminous with the University of Utah.
112 UNMC students were selected on Friday, along with 165 medical students from Creighton University.
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