Where Future Physicians Meet Future Opportunities
Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine partnered with HCA Healthcare on August 20 to host the first HCA Healthcare Mixer on campus designed to foster meaningful professional relationships and encourage future physicians to pursue residency training and long-term career opportunities in Las Vegas.
Bringing together approximately 360 first- and second-year osteopathic medicine students, the event provided a unique opportunity to engage with program directors, residents, and physicians across a broad spectrum of medical specialties.
“This event is special because it introduces our students to the excellent, high-quality residency programs we have here in Nevada,” said Dean Stacey Pierce-Talsma. “It starts them thinking about mission and value alignment as they consider where they want to train.”
An especially meaningful moment for Pierce-Talsma was seeing Touro Nevada graduates return to campus as residents and chief residents to share their experiences with current students. She shared, “While our students are early in their medical journey, this opportunity to see the success of Touro Nevada graduates helps them envision what their own future could look like. There is still so much for them to learn and decide, but every opportunity to engage with physicians across a wide range of specialties helps them discover their path.”
Second-year osteopathic medicine student Prudence Regacho attended the event and shared, “It was a great opportunity to connect with different residency programs early in my second year. It is easy to get caught up in our pre-clinical coursework without always thinking about the path ahead. I really enjoyed speaking with residents in my specialty of interest and learning whether their program might be a good fit for me.”
“It felt a bit like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” said second-year osteopathic medicine student Zachary Hammer. “This event provided a great opportunity to meet some of these program directors now, whom I otherwise might not interact with until rotations or the residency application process.”
