Annual Pub 2023 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 47
SUMMER 2023 MAGAZINE
y all accounts, the class of 2023 did very well on
Match Day, continuing the Kirk Kerkorian School of
Medicine at UNLV’s winning streak that began with
the charter class three years previously. Not only did
all of the 66 students who graduated in May match,
but once again this year, several students matched
to some of the most prestigious residency programs in the country.
It9s also signi昀cant that 38 percent matched in Nevada for at least
their 昀rst year.
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Before newly minted doctors can treat patients on their own, they
must spend, depending on their chosen specialty, between three
and seven years in residency training — what medical school
administrators refer to as graduate medical education.
Successful Match Days are good indicators that a medical school
is preparing its students more than adequately. It’s particularly
impressive that a newer school like the Kirk Kerkorian School of
Medicine, which welcomed its 昀rst students in July of 2017, is seeing
so many of its graduates snapped up by top residency programs
including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and Penn Medicine.
Class of 2023 graduate Sami Mesgun, MD, was “overjoyed” to match
at highly respected Case Western/University Hospitals in Cleveland,
Ohio, and feels he “absolutely” made the right choice for medical
school. “I believe the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine prepared me
and my classmates well for the future. Because of our accelerated
pre-clinical curriculum, we got out into the clinical environment
sooner, offering us more opportunities to hone our patient care skills.”
Dr. Mesgun is remarkably humble for being an Ivy League graduate
(Cornell University) who also 昀nished at the top of his class while
running track at Las Vegas’s Durango High School. Amicable and
well-liked by his classmates, he will specialize in internal medicine
with an eye towards training in gastroenterology. “My interest is
in colon cancer prevention,” Dr. Mesgun says, “with an emphasis
on disparities in rates of screening and incidences of cancer in
underserved patients.” Dr. Mesgun has a special place in his heart
for the underserved. His parents are refugees from Eritrea. During
their early days in Las Vegas his mother stayed home, impressing
upon her three children the importance of education … purchasing
workbooks, encouraging them to “do a little more” in school. For ten
years, his father was the sole provider for the family, driving a taxi
12 hours a day.
One of the reasons Dr. Mesgun and many other talented students
chose the school of medicine was the offer of a four-year scholarship
from the Engelstad Foundation. “I’d like to express my sincerest
gratitude to my scholarship donors who were so generous to support
my pursuit of medicine in both tangible and symbolic ways,” Dr.
Mesgun says.
Dr. Mesgun heads to residency in Ohio with fond memories of his
medical school experience that was more collaborative than he
anticipated. “What I will remember most about my time at the school
is the overall spirit of kindness shared among colleagues, both in
my class and in the classes before me. I wouldn’t have had such a
successful and memorable time in medical school if it weren’t for
the guidance and support of those who had gone through and who
were going through the process with me.”
Dr. Mesgun’s friend and classmate, Aziza Dhalai, MD, started
medical school at the age of 36 and quickly became a favorite of
more than a few faculty members. Combining a bright smile and
energetic personality with an air of exceptional competence, it’s no
surprise she is a trailblazer - the 昀rst from the school to apply and
successfully match to ophthalmology. “After working with several
local ophthalmologists, I was hooked,” Dr. Dhalai says. “Having the
training to restore someone’s sight with a quick procedure is incredibly
rewarding; it changes a patient’s quality of life. The more I learned
about the specialty, the more I fell in love with it, and I cannot imagine
doing anything else.”
Born in Yemen before moving to the U.S. at the age of 昀ve, Dr. Dhalai
would accompany her father to doctors appointments, where she
would act as both interpreter and comforter. She began considering
ophthalmology after watching her grandmother lose her sight due
to a lack of care for cataracts.
This mother of two, who is also 昀uent in Arabic, successfully matched
at her top choice, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, another highly
respected program known across the medical school landscape. “I
completed an away rotation and research rotation there last summer.
I was really impressed with their faculty and staff; it was an extremely
supportive learning environment.” Dr. Dhalai feels fortunate to have
received the opportunity to experience the 昀eld.
