Match Day 2023

RFU student leaders Lauren Gard, MPH, CMS ’23, and Trevor Page, SCPM ’23, are headed to programs from among their top choices following Match Day 2023. In separate ceremonies on Friday, March 17, Ms. Gard learned she will train in emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Maryland, while Mr. Page was assigned a podiatric medical and surgical residency at Franciscan Health System-St. Francis Hospital, Washington state.

Both the recipients of numerous academic awards and honors, they have stepped up in moments of crisis to lead. Both point to opportunities provided by their programs and, as Ms. Gard said, “the latitude to try something new.”

Ms. Gard enjoyed a career before medical school, as coordinator for the National Collaborative for Education to Address the Social Determinants of Health with Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She also worked as a research assistant, clinical trials coordinator and advocacy intern for the Women’s Aid Organisation in Malaysia.

A past president of RFU’s student-driven, pro-bono Interprofessional Community Clinic (ICC), in 2020 she oversaw the institution of a telehealth program that allowed the clinic to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic, a feat that included addressing patients’ lack of digital accessibility.

“We really experienced the power of interprofessional teams, of working to understand the whole patient and the barriers to health care they face,” Ms. Gard said. “The ICC is the gem of RFU and why I wanted to come to CMS.”

A Scholl Scholar, Mr. Page is the 2023 recipient of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons’ Proven Leader full-tuition scholarship. While living in the Donetsk region of Ukraine from 2012-2014 on a service mission for his church, he was called on to lead the evacuation of 40 fellow volunteers in the midst of violent protests leading up to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

“We were on the eastern border right next to Russia, about eight hours north of our mission headquarters,” Mr. Page said. “The violence was literally right outside our window. We had to get everybody out safely, without attracting attention.”

The experience changed Mr. Page’s understanding of leadership. “It’s not something you earn,” he said. “It’s being the best teammate. It's being the one who's the most supportive. There's so many opportunities, including for leadership at RFU and Scholl College, you just have to reach for and grab them. That’s something I strive to do.”

For Ms. Gard, a third-year clerkship at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County’s emergency room in Chicago stoked her interest in the emerging field of social emergency medicine. 

“You really see those public health issues, those upstream community issues at play in the emergency room,” she said. “In one of my rotations, a patient came in for foot pain, but the real issue was that they were experiencing houselessness and their shoes were terrible for winter. A big part of their care was working with our social worker to get a new pair of shoes. As an emergency medicine physician, I want to incorporate aspects of public health and an awareness of my patients’ social determinants of health into my daily practice.”

Mr. Page plans to apply for a fellowship and engage in “a very surgical practice.”

“We're a very small field of medicine with a lot of room for growth that can really help improve the health and mobility of people through new technologies and surgical innovations,” he said. “I see myself on the forefront of that.

“Scholl’s network is very deep,” he added. “The faculty are very well connected throughout the country to physicians and surgeons. That translates into many clinical, research and leadership opportunities. You get the support you need to propel you into your future career.”