UCLA medical students brace for news at residency ’Match Day’

Match Day is the fun, frenzied day when medical students nationwide learn which hospital has accepted them for residency — advanced training in their chosen specialty. At UCLA, the ceremony climaxes in a mad scramble for the envelopes, with 150 aspiring doctors tearing them open with their families and friends. Many videotape themselves and let distant loved ones listen in on cell phones during this emotional rollercoaster of an event. Tchekmedyian intends to follow in the footsteps of his father, an Uruguay-born oncologist whose practice participates in the UCLA Cancer Research Network. But the Bruin family affair doesn't end there. Nishan completed a double major in economics and biology at UCLA; his brother Vatche, 25, is president of the third-year medical student class; brother Vartan, 23, produced the popular UCLA dance marathon that raised thousands for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; sister Allene, 21, is editor-in-chief of the Daily Bruin newspaper; and brother Raffi, 18, is a UCLA rower who also plans to apply to the medical school. Little sister Sareen, 16, is a ballerina in the Houston Ballet Academy and still weighing her college plans.