MD Program Meet Kevin Rooney & Jannah Wing
MD Program Class of 2024

Kevin Rooney and Jannah Wing, MD Program Class of 2024

Kevin Rooney
Hometown: Albany, N.Y.
Undergraduate: Villanova University, BS in Biology

Jannah Wing
Hometown: Center Valley, Pa. (born in Tuttlingen, Germany)
Undergraduate: Lehigh University, BS - Integrated Degree in Engineering, Arts and Sciences with concentrations in Bioengineering and Global Health
Graduate: Lehigh University, M.Eng in Healthcare Systems Engineering

Ahead of Match Day 2024, MD students Kevin Rooney and Jannah Wing discussed their time in medical school and their plans for residency and beyond. They applied to residency programs through the couples’ match process, in order to pursue residency placements at the same hospitals or in the same geographic area.

What drew you to medicine, and to the College of Medicine specifically?

Kevin Rooney (KR): I always had a fascination with medicine and biology, and I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a doctor. As a kid, helping my grandfather fix household appliances nurtured my interest in the kind of problem-solving skills physicians need. I loved the process of researching what could be preventing something from working and taking the object apart piece by piece to fix it. I was motivated to use these critical thinking skills and my fascination with human biology to become someone who could help patients in times of need.

After completing my undergraduate degree at Villanova, I knew I wanted to continue my education in Philadelphia. I was particularly drawn to Drexel University College of Medicine due to its commitment to working with and giving back to the community. Having the opportunity to get involved in various Health Outreach Project (HOP) clinics to help underserved patients in the Philadelphia area was a major factor in my coming to Drexel.

Jannah Wing (JW): I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I was largely influenced by my grandfather, a nephrologist who helped get dialysis established in the United Kingdom. I remember hearing family members talking about the incredible influence he was having on patients’ wellbeing, and I always wanted to have that same impact on patients' lives.

I chose to attend Drexel because of its commitment to diverse and underserved populations in Philadelphia, global health opportunities and options to explore many different health care systems during third-year clerkships.

Kevin Rooney and Jannah Wing, MD Program Class of 2024

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself before you came to Drexel?

KR: Growing up just outside of Albany, N.Y., I was a big sports fanatic and spent much of my childhood playing baseball, basketball and golf. When choosing where to go to college, I was focused on finding a place where I could push myself academically and cheer on renowned sports teams in my free time. This is what led me to Villanova. After graduating, I took a couple of gap years back home in Albany after my first application to medical school didn’t work out. I spent a year working as a medical scribe in a primary care office. After a year, I switched gears to become an EMT to get more hands-on experience in the medical field. Both experiences were invaluable to me in terms of the connections I made and all I could learn about the medical field.

JW: I was born in a small town in southern Germany and lived there until I was eight, when my family moved to Pennsylvania. Additionally, my extended family is all based in England, so I’ve always considered that my second home. I am very passionate about global health and improving health care delivery for patients both at home and abroad. During undergrad, I completed several study-abroad programs: first, a program in Geneva, Switzerland focused on global health policy, where I got to spend time at the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN). Then I participated in a comparative health program where I explored health care systems and the cultural norms impacting health care in Vietnam, South Africa and Argentina. After these experiences, I was inspired to get my master’s in healthcare systems engineering to learn more about the United States health care system and methods to improve health care delivery. During this time, I also worked part-time as a domestic violence advocate for a local hotline and safehouse and worked on a research project designing and implementing a low-cost sickle cell screening device for use in Sierra Leone.

What specialty do you plan to go into? What influenced that choice?

KR: I have applied into the field of anesthesiology. I was lucky enough to complete my third-year clinical rotations in the Bay Area of California at Kaiser Permanente, where I met some incredible mentors who introduced me to the field of anesthesiology. Additionally, I was particularly drawn to the hands-on and cerebral nature of the specialty, and the way it pushes you to be a master of pathophysiology and pharmacology. Finally, having the important role of building relationships with and comforting patients on some of the scariest days of their lives prior to their procedures is what assured me this was the field I wanted to make a career of.

JW: I am going into diagnostic and interventional radiology (DR/IR). Going through my third-year clerkships, I struggled to choose just one specialty because I really enjoyed working with so many different patient groups. It wasn’t until a chance conversation I had during my OB/GYN rotation that I heard about IR. It was in a hysterectomy for symptomatic fibroids and spoke to my attending after the procedure about less invasive options. She told me about uterine artery embolizations an IR procedure that requires only a small incision in the groin and shrinks fibroids by cutting off their blood supply. I was instantly drawn to IR due to the minimally invasive nature of procedures. After that, I spent more time exploring both diagnostic and interventional radiology and fell in love with the wide variety of the field. I’ll work with a wide range of patients, health care workers, and pathologies on a daily basis, and DR/IR’s rapidly changing and creative procedures draw on my background in bioengineering. Most importantly, I look forward to the significant impact I could have on patients’ lives, given our health care system’s growing reliance on diagnostic imaging.

What organizations, extracurriculars, research or community service experiences have you been involved in during your time at Drexel? How have they impacted your experience in medical school?

KR: During my time at Drexel, I really learned the importance of being an advocate for ensuring wellness, for both my classmates and for myself. From being one of the founding members of the DUCOM Pizza Club to being an elected social chair during my third year, I really wanted to find opportunities to get our class together outside of the hospital and away from our textbooks. It was important to me to make sure we were all taking the necessary time to take care of ourselves and to bond as a class. This is something that I am excited to continue and bring with me to my future residency program and beyond.

Additionally, I held various leadership roles throughout my time at Drexel, from being an orientation co-chair to being on the planning committee for our Transition to Clinician White Coat Ceremony. These opportunities allowed me to grow my leadership and communication skills, especially when working on teams where people had varied backgrounds and roles. These experiences pushed me to build teamwork and leadership skills that will be critical to my success in residency and as a physician.

JW: Some of my most meaningful experiences during medical school have included my time as the advocacy coordinator for the Salvation Army HOP clinic, my research with the Global Health Scholars program, and my time as a domestic violence advocate.

As the HOP site advocacy coordinator, I led a group of advocates putting together and providing non-medical resources for patients. For the Global Health Scholars program, I continued my earlier research project designing a sickle cell screening device and program for use in Sierra Leone, now focusing on researching sustainable implementation strategies. And finally, I continued my prior advocacy role by volunteering on a new hotline, providing counseling and resources to domestic violence survivors in Philadelphia.

What has it been like going through medical school together? What was the couples' match process like?

KR & JW: We met on the first day of orientation week of our first year of medical school when a classmate of ours decided to put together a socially-distanced meet and greet during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Despite the grueling workload of medical school and limitations on in-person socializing due to the ongoing pandemic, we still made it a priority to see and be with each other however we could. We decided to test our luck in the third-year clerkship lottery with a “mini couples’ match,” and were very excited to complete all our rotations together at Kaiser Permanente.

Going through all the stresses of medical school together has been incredible. Not only are we able to support each other and understand the everyday challenges of being medical students, but we are also able to study together and talk through tough topics. This has been incredibly helpful both for our mental health and academic success.

Similarly, going through the Match as a couple has been a very supportive process. Although we had to apply to more programs and accept more interviews than if we were going through the Match independently, being able to prepare for interviews together and talk about the pros and cons of different programs has been very helpful.

What advice would you give other couples who will go through the match process together?

KR & JW: Going through the match process is incredibly stressful, but going through it with your best friend is such an incredible experience. It’s important to know that you are working together as a team and have open communication early and often about what is important to both of you for your future careers and life goals. Utilizing the numerous resources Drexel has made available is also key, including taking advantage of the info sessions with those who just successfully matched as couples, and meeting with dean advisors and pathway advisors to bounce ideas.

One of the biggest pieces of advice that we can give is applying broadly and being an active advocate for both you and your partner. From emailing programs about the fact that you are participating in the couples’ match, to bringing up this information again during your interview, it is important to be clear about your situation. This was often received very favorably by the programs we interacted with and even helped us gain a few additional interviews to put on our rank list.

How are you feeling ahead of Match Day? What are you looking forward to about the next step in your medical career?

KR & JW: Excited, terrified, confident, unsure. We have many really exciting options on our rank list and feel like our interview season went well, but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t at least a little bit nervous. No matter what happens on Match Day, we are both really looking forward to taking the next steps in achieving our life-long goals of becoming physicians, and hopefully starting our lives together in an exciting new city. Kevin is particularly looking forward to starting his career in the field of anesthesiology with the goal of becoming a pediatric anesthesiologist after fellowship, and Jannah is especially excited to start her career in radiology with the goal of also helping to bring diagnostic and interventional imaging services to low-income countries.

MD Program Meet Kevin Rooney & Jannah Wing MD Program Class of 2024