Suffolk Reporter

Mike Sova, a fingerstyle guitarist and founder of the Music in Medicine Club at the Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) at Stony Brook University, along with Alaba Danagogo, who came from Nigeria on a full scholarship to Syracuse University, are among the 130 RSOM students embarking on their medical careers. Both were part of RSOM's Match Day celebration held on March 21 at Stony Brook University's Bauman Center.

Match Day is an annual event across medical schools where students discover their residency training assignments. This year, RSOM students matched to over 20 specialties across New York and 17 other states. Fifty-five percent will remain in New York State, with 14 percent staying at Stony Brook Medicine for their residencies.

Residency programs generally commence around July 1, 2025. Besides placements at Stony Brook Medicine, RSOM graduates will start their careers at prominent hospitals and academic centers like the University of California Irvine Medical Center, Stanford Health Care, Brown University, Yale University School of Medicine, and Montefiore Medical Center/Einstein in New York City.

Top specialties included internal medicine (26 matches), anesthesiology (15), psychiatry (11), and diagnostic radiology (10). "We are delighted that 27 percent of our students matched to primary care specialties," said Peter Igarashi, MD, Knapp Dean of the RSOM. "In addition to our students’ exceptional match, I am also incredibly proud that all 158 residency positions offered at Stony Brook Medicine were filled."

The National Resident Matching Program reported more than 40,000 positions filled this year—a record for its history spanning over seven decades.

Sova's journey into medicine was influenced by his recovery from Chiari malformation through surgeries during his teenage years. He matched to internal medicine and will practice at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Danagogo is one of five students entering a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency after a transitional year before starting work at Montefiore Medical Center/Einstein. Her scholarship from Syracuse University supported her medical education alongside family assistance. At Stony Brook, she engaged in the MD/MA program exploring intersections between medicine and humanities.

Her initiative—the Writing Away Racism Project—will be integrated into RSOM's curriculum as part of her advocacy efforts against racism through creative writing workshops.

As these graduates begin their careers amid growing demands for physicians due to globalization and emerging diseases, they join a field poised for advancements through new technologies like AI and telemedicine.