“I am incredibly excited to be going to Madigan Army Medical Center. I had the opportunity to do an away rotation there over the summer and loved the culture, the didactic and clinical education and the emphasis on patient education. I am very excited to be an Army OBGYN."
Adrienne Laboe, 2021 MD candidate, Emory School of Medicine, is from Acton, Mass., a suburb of Boston. She went to the University of Maryland-College Park for undergrad where she majored in neurobiology and physiology. “I was planning to stay between Washington, D.C., and Boston for medical school, but when I interviewed at Emory I felt at home with the people and community that exists here. That, combined with the diversity of clinical training sites and emphasis on patient-centered care, is how I ultimately decided to come here,” says Adrienne.
Adrienne has an Army scholarship for medical school and participated in the early, military match. Her husband is an Apache Helicopter Pilot for the Army. When it was time to apply for medical school the Army scholarship seemed like a good solution because it helped keep them stationed closer together, while also helping to pay for medical school. Adrienne will do her residency at an Army residency program and serve as a physician in the Army for four years after completing residency. “I am very excited to be an Army OB-GYN,” says Adrienne.
She matched at Madigan Army Medical Center, outside of Tacoma, Wash., in obstetrics and gynecology. “I am incredibly excited to be going to this program. I had the opportunity to do an away rotation there over the summer and loved the culture, the didactic and clinical education and the emphasis on patient education. Above all, I am looking forward to joining the family of residents and attendings who welcomed me into their community over the summer. Also, exploring the Pacific Northwest during my time off doesn't sound all too bad!”
Adrienne says she enjoyed her time at Emory, particularly the strength of the clinical training opportunities and the way students are truly welcomed as part of the health care team. “My most lasting memories will be the classmates, residents, attendings and mentors I had the privilege of getting to know and learning from,” she says. She also cherished the opportunity to do a Discovery Phase project, where she was given more ownership over her research and had the opportunity to work with incredible mentors.
To finish medical school and match with a residency program during a pandemic was unique, Adrienne says, as everyone was struggling with the adjustments that had to be made in everyday life and in health care. “While I wish that we were able to celebrate milestones like Match Day and graduation with all our friends and family, as medical students we were in a lucky position,” she says. “We were given time to transition and learn how to function in the pandemic with less responsibility than residents or attendings, while having been fortunate as fourth years to have our education relatively minimally disrupted compared with those in other classes.”