Our Class of 2021 had an impressive 96% match rate. This past summer, members of our newest alumni cohort started their residencies at medical centers throughout the US and Israel, including Maimonides Medical Center, the Mayo Clinic, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Hackensack University Medical Center, the University of Maryland Medical Center, LSU School of Medicine, and other esteemed sites.

With a few months under their belts as interns, we checked in with them to find out more about their unique residency experiences.

“Residency so far has been an enormous time of growth, challenge and joy! We get to experience different parts of the Northeast and beyond, with some MSIH friends never too far away! We feel very fortunate to be surrounded by excellent mentors that are supportive of us throughout this transition,” shared Nadav Wallach, MD, a Family Medicine Resident at Middlesex Hospital in Connecticut, along with his fiancée, Rachel Gibbs, an Internal Medicine Resident at University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington.

As busy residents, Nadav and Rachel made time to visit The Maroon Bells in Colorado this summer.

Judi Yuhjtman, MD, a Pediatrics Resident at Tower Health/St Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, reflected on how her MSIH education prepared her for a successful start to residency. She shared, “A statement that resonated with me during my time at MSIH is ‘global health is local’. This holds true during my short time here in Philadelphia working as a resident at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. I continue to use the skills I learned during medical school to connect with people of different cultures, religions, backgrounds, upbringings and social statuses. Throughout my interactions with my patients, I am reminded and thankful everyday of the unique experience and training I had in Be’er Sheva. I truly feel like I am making a difference in my patients’ lives.” Judi looks forward to the next three years of residency as she moves forward in her career as a pediatrician. 

Each year, a few of our alums choose to remain in Israel to practice medicine. Rachel Biesse, MD, is one such alum. She is currently at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where she is completing staj, a mandatory year-long pre-residency program in which physicians rotate through various required departments and complete two months of electives. 

As a stajer, Rachel has completed internal medicine rotations, including two weeks in a Coronavirus ward. Rachel’s most rewarding experience so far was seeing one of her patients finally discharged home. She reflected, “The entire staff and I were touched by this patient’s sweetness, gratitude and patience…We were all rooting for him to recover and were humbled to be able to send him home to his family.” 

Rachel offers some advice for students wishing to enter staj or residency: “be willing to work, be enthusiastic, get to know the entire staff, and do not be afraid to ask for help when needed. Attitude is everything – I have had amazing residents specifically request to be on call with me despite my relative lack of experience, just because they enjoy being around me and trust me to either get the job done, or let them know if I need them to step in.”

We wish our newly-minted physicians all the best as they complete their residency programs at highly-esteemed medical centers and hospitals in the US and Israel.

 To learn more about the residency placements of MSIH alumni, please visit our Residency page.