ALL UC DAVIS MEDICAL SCHOOL GRADUATES ACCEPTED INTO RESIDENCY PROGRAMS ON “MATCH DAY”

(DAVIS, Calif.) — One hundred UC Davis School of Medicine students learned today where in the United States they will be continuing their medical training over the next several years to become licensed to practice medicine.

In an emotional and informal gathering at the Mondavi Center on the UC Davis campus, the students opened letters of placement in the presence of their family, friends, medical school deans and staff. The placements are based on the computerized results of the National Resident Matching Program, which uses a computer algorithm to match the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency program directors to fill the available training positions at U.S. teaching hospitals.

At UC Davis, the majority of students (62 percent) will remain in California for training. About 20 percent will remain at UC Davis Medical Center. Almost half (47 percent) chose residencies in primary care, which includes family practice, general pediatrics and internal medicine. About 20 percent of the graduates were accepted into advanced subspecialty programs.

The most popular choices of training programs among UC Davis graduates were pediatrics (18 percent), internal medicine, (14 percent), family medicine (13 percent), psychiatry (11 percent) and emergency medicine (11 percent).

“The 11-percent figure for psychiatry is especially notable, as it is much higher than the national average,” said Michael Wilkes, associate dean, Medical Education.

Nationally, medical school seniors applied to residency programs in record numbers this year. More than 14,700 applied for residency positions through the NRMP, the highest number in almost 20 years.

"The growing number of participants each year demonstrates continued confidence in the match process and illustrates just how important the match is for medical education," said NRMP president Melissa Thomas.

The NRMP is a private, not-for-profit corporation established in 1952 to provide a uniform date of appointment to positions in graduate medical education.