Zak Walshon’s Match Day

For 4th-year medical students, Match Day is the most wonderful day of the year.

Or the worst.

At noon, they gather together in a room at their med schools. They’re handed an envelope. Simultaneously — all across the country — they open them.

And find out where they’ll start their residencies — in some cases, their careers — as physicians.

This year’s Match Day was Friday.

To celebrate — or relieve the stress, or just do something non-medical for a change — Zak Walshon edited, co-directed and sang on a video.

The Staples Class of 1996 graduate attends SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.  For the past 2 years, classes have made Match Day videos. Zak’s class decided to make theirs even better.

They knew his background in theater and television. After working with Staples Players and graduating from Skidmore College, Zak moved to LA to be a TV writer. But he ended up back east, and realized he really wanted to follow his dad into medicine.

His talents were a perfect “match.”

Zak Walshon: doctor or filmmaker? Actually, both.

Zak and his classmates starting writing in November. Staging and choreography began in January. Filming commenced at the end of February.

“I found myself trying to channel Al Pia as best I could,” Zak says — referring to the legendary Players director — “while directing people who had never acted before.”

He loved returning to one of his passions, after many years of narrow focus on medical studies. He finishing editing in the early hours of Match Day.

The video is a hit. In the 2 days it’s been live, it’s been viewed over 8,000 times.

You can see it below. It’s a fantastic 4 minutes. It’s funny, clever and thoroughly entertaining — whether you’re a doctor, you go to one, or you play one on TV.

But before you click on “Match Day,” I know you’re all wondering the same thing.

So: On July 1, Zak heads to Hofstra/Northwell for his internship in surgery. After that, it’s Temple University for radiology residency.

Congrats on the match — and the video —  Doctor Walshon!

(If your browser does not take you directly to YouTube, click here.)