Fourth-year medical student ready to start career in rural family medicine

Raised in a large, blended family in San Antonio, Joshua Mihalik chose medicine because a desire to help others was instilled in him from an early age. He might be the first physician in his family, but a few relatives helped light the way to a medical career. His father served in the Army, providing care to those wounded in active duty, and his stepfather has a long career as a nurse who now practices at the VA. Now a fourth-year student at Texas Tech Health El Paso, Mihalik plans to match into rural family medicine on Match Day.

How did you choose family medicine?
I think of my path to family medicine as three trails that ended up meeting at the end of the hike, with family medicine as the finish. For me, I realized early in medical school how much joy I get from interacting with patients and building real relationships with them daily. After that, the versatility of family medicine really drew me into the specialty. Like many medical students, I love learning and have a yearning to know as much as I can so I can be the best physician I can be.

To me, family medicine represents the crux of mastering a lot of diverse information and skills, using them to find and provide the best care for your patient and condensing it into accessible bites for patients. Lastly, I have been moved to always ask myself if I am serving others as much as I can, and this has led me to pursue more advocacy. In family medicine, I believe family doctors are the ideal health care providers to help bridge the gap between the voices of patients and those who decide how they receive health care.

What are your hopes for your career?
I hope to practice rural family medicine in Texas, with a balance of inpatient, outpatient, and obstetrics, while working with my partner to improve the health of the community we end up in. I also hope to become further involved in the legislative process for health care in Texas to help strengthen the voices of physicians in making decisions regarding how health care is conducted. I plan to do this by becoming more involved in TAFP and AAFP, as well as local chapters where I practice. I also hope to become a mentor to future medical students and hopefully inspire them to pursue family medicine as well.

What would you tell medical students who are early in their education about preparing for match and choosing a specialty?
I wish I had sought out a mentor sooner in medical school, so that is always my top advice for incoming medical students and those seeking guidance for their future career. I am fortunate to have found a family medicine mentor in the past year who has helped me prepare for my future in ways I did not think of but am so grateful for now. A mentor is a priceless source of wisdom, information, and reassurance when you are overthinking everything as application season approaches.

What surprised you most about interview season?
How nice everyone was! All the applicants, residents, residency program staff, and administration were so nice throughout the interview process. I feel very blessed to be going into a field with so many people who will make going to work that much easier.

What was the hardest part of the match process?
Deciding on my top-ranking programs. Because everyone is so nice, it really came down to what my goals for the future are and how each program could help me achieve those goals while helping me remember why I chose family medicine in the first place. I know wherever I end up, I will work with the program and my co-residents to become the best family doctor I can be for my future patients and community.

This member profile is part of TAFP's coverage of Match Day 2026, taking place on March 20, 2026. Check out all of TAFP's Match Day coverage here.