Every medical school student knows "Match Day," the annual event that is usually held on the third Friday of March, when students discover their residency program match. This pivotal milestone signals the start of a medical student's career.
 
Two former Rutgers student-athletes, women's lacrosse standout Dakota Pastore and Noelle Bessette, who competed on the Scarlet Knight field hockey team, recently participated in their own Match Day experiences.
 
Like most medical school students, Pastore and Bessette found out via email if they matched into residency, with the Match Day ceremony itself occurring later that same week. It was during that ceremony where they found out where they matched.
 

At Rutgers, Pastore was a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection (2017-19) and three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2018-19) with a 3.7+ GPA. Pastore, who starred at Somerville High School, earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry in December 2018 before going on to earn a master's public health which she completed in December 2020. She then started at Rowan-Viruta School of Osteopathic Medicine in July of 2021, and is set to graduate as a member of the class of 2025.
 
Pastore's residency will take place at Stamford Hospital/Columbia in Connecticut, where she will be receiving her training in general surgery and where she will likely focus on colorectal surgery.
 
Both Pastore and Bessette credit their athletic careers at Rutgers with playing vital roles in both the medical school application process, as well as their respective medical school journeys.
 
"I was a midfielder at Rutgers but in my sophomore year they wanted me to take on the role of playing as a defender," said Pastore. "It was one of the best lessons I could ever have. The coaches run a team and we support them as best as we can.
 
"So I definitely think that the lessons I learned as a college athlete have shaped the person that I am now and what I can bring to my next steps here," she added. "I definitely owe a lot of that to the coaches that I've had and gotten to play under. Work ethic is something that's harped on a lot. And even in my interviews, a lot of the programs would ask me about being an athlete because it teaches you so many lessons that translate.
 
"Even that simple lesson of, when you're on a team you fill whatever position is needed. It's the same thing that people look for in everyday life in the work force."
 
Bessette, meanwhile, was a three-time Academic All- Big Ten selection and a three-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar at Rutgers where she majored in cell biology and neuroscience. She applied to medical school during her senior year of 2021-22 and was accepted into the three-year accelerated program at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, from where she will graduate in June. She plans to pursue her three-year residency at Hackensack University Medical Center where she will concentrate on emergency medicine and within that is considering a focus on non-operative sports medicine.
 
Like Pastore, Bessette says the lessons learned on the playing field have, and continue to, pay dividends for her.
 
"In the application process to medical school, having an athletic background does offer you lots of advantages," she said. "Being an athlete in general, no matter what sport you do, it teaches things like hard work and resilience. It shows that you can put in that kind of effort to accomplish great things. And then for emergency medicine specifically I also talked a lot about my experience in athletics.
 
"Field hockey is a team sport and they always say medicine is a team sport as well," Bessette continued. "Working with the nurses, respiratory technicians, patient care technicians and all of the different players that are there within the hospital. I think having a background in a team sport really helps show that you know how to be a team player. Field hockey is a fast-paced sport and in the ER things tend to move quickly as well. So I think playing a sport in college definitely lent its hand well to applying to medicine."
 
Both Bessette and Pastore stressed that they owe a debt of gratitude to their families for their unwavering and nurturing support from kindergarten all the way through medical school.
 
"Match Day was such an awesome experience," said Pastore. "I was really thrilled to have my parents there. We Facetimed my grandparents so they could watch. My dad was recording and my mom was crying with me, so it was really an amazing experience. I owe everything to my support system. They say it takes a village and I had the best village I would say. My parents have always been my number one fans in lacrosse, and now medicine."
 
"My family played a very large role in both my athletic and academic journey," Bessette said. "My parents moved to Massachusetts after my freshman year but still drove down for all of our home games. Both of my parents were able to come to match day which meant so much even though I already knew where I would be matching. It was a great celebration of how hard my classmates and I have worked and the future of medicine.
 
The Scarlet Knights For Life program seeks alumni, employers, faculty/staff, and community members who are interested in supporting Rutgers student-athletes. Please complete this short form if you are interested in sharing a job/internship, looking to hire a student-athlete, becoming a mentor, or attending a networking event.
 
 
A recipient of seven NJ Press Association Awards for writing excellence, John Beisser ('86) served as Assistant Director in the Rutgers University Athletic Communications Office from 1991-2006, where he primarily handled sports information/media relations duties for the Scarlet Knight football and men's basketball programs. In this role, he served as managing editor for nine publications that received either National or Regional citations from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). While an undergraduate at RU, Beisser was sports director of WRSU-FM and a sportswriter/columnist for The Daily Targum. From 2007-2019, Beisser served as Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Media Relations at Wagner College, where he was the recipient of the 2019 Met Basketball Writers Association "Good Guy" Award. Beisser resides in Piscataway with his wife Aileen (RC '95,) a four-year Scarlet Knight women's lacrosse letterwinner, and their 15-year old daughter Riley.