MOBILE, Alabama (March 18, 2024) – The Class of 2024 entered the University of South Alabama Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the height of the pandemic – their early medical school milestones marked by masks and social distancing.

In the summer of 2020, the class met at the local Taco Mama to get to know one another before their official orientation two weeks later. Among those in attendance were Taylor Coe, of Birmingham, and Ben Yockers, of Daphne. The two bonded over their affinity for fishing, sports and Thai food.

“We soon became the best of friends and were inseparable,” Coe said of their relationship.

On Friday, March 15, 74 members of the Class of 2024, including Coe and Yockers, gathered at the USA Mitchell Center for Match Day, the annual event in which senior medical students across North America simultaneously learn where they will be doing their residency training.

The couple – now engaged – will spend the next five years at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, where Coe matched in obstetrics and gynecology and Yockers matched in general surgery. But first, they will celebrate their wedding next month, followed by a honeymoon in Thailand.

“The couples match process has definitely been stressful, but we are thankful to have had each other for support throughout the application and interview process,” Coe said. “We both agreed that we wanted to end up in the same city no matter what, so we applied to all the same places.”

Yockers chose the Whiddon College of Medicine for medical school because “South felt like home.” His mother, anesthesiologist Teresa Cusa, M.D., graduated from the Whiddon College of Medicine in 1992.

“The faculty and students felt truly invested in me as a person as much as a future physician,” he said. “I have learned so much and met so many amazing people during my time here. I would not be where I am today without the guidance this program provided to me.”

Tiara Dean took part in USA’s DREAM pipeline program during the summer of 2019, which she described as an invaluable experience that helped her with test prep for the medical school entrance exam and, more importantly, introduced her to a medical school environment.

Dean said the Whiddon College of Medicine’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts aligned with her own values and aspirations to promote equity and justice within the medical field.

“I made the decision to dual apply into both family medicine and obstetrics and gynecology to maximize my opportunity of pursuing my passion of providing equitable women’s health,” she said. “After learning about the inflated maternal mortality rate among African American women, my passion became an obsession. I believe that through pursuing this career path, I am marrying my two loves of both medicine and social action.”

Dean matched in family medicine at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida.

Her medical school experience has given her the confidence to tackle new challenges, she said, adding “I am prepared to apply the same work ethic, dedication, and resilience that have guided me thus far to my residency training, ensuring that I continue to learn, grow, and provide the best possible care to my patients.”

While most medical students go through the National Resident Matching Program and find out their matches on Match Day, students in the military and certain specialties learn their residency placements earlier.

Jelani Bender received an email from the U.S. Army last December with the news that he matched in emergency medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

Growing up in Birmingham in a family with a strong military background, Bender always considered continuing his family’s history of service, as his father is a U.S. Army colonel. However, it was shadowing his mother, a nuclear medicine cardiologist, that sparked his passion for medicine.

“I am proud to follow in her footsteps as a physician while also honoring my father’s legacy as an Army officer,” he said.

Bender’s path to the Whiddon College of Medicine began with a recommendation from the late Johnson Haynes, M.D., who served as a professor of internal medicine and assistant dean of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Bender was drawn to the sense of community he felt when visiting the medical school.

“Over the past four years, my professors, classmates and the entire college have become like family to me,” Bender said. “I am incredibly grateful and blessed for the opportunity to have started my medical journey at the Whiddon College of Medicine.”