A moment rooted in community
At the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Karla Murillo stood beside her mother as she opened the envelope that would shape her future. Inside: a match in ophthalmology at UCLA Health.
For Murillo, who grew up in Southeast Los Angeles and Bakersfield, the moment was both personal and purposeful—bringing her closer to a career focused on improving access to vision care. She is one of hundreds of UC medical students participating in Match Day, stepping into residencies with a commitment to caring for people in their communities.
The next phase in the journey for this doctor
Kara Murillo, a graduating UCLA medical student, celebrates her match into a residency program.
Through the PRIME-LA program and her work with the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic, Murillo had brought together her interests in community outreach, public health, and patient care—delivering vision screenings and preventive services to Central Valley communities, particularly in rural and farmworker populations. PRIME-LA is one of the UC PRIME programs which offer an innovative training curriculum tailored to local community health needs.
"Murillo's mom says her daughter's future patients will not only get a highly trained doctor but also a fierce champion."
Students from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA share where they'll be going next for residency.
Training and staying in California
Match Day marks the culmination of a months-long interview and application process, as students gather with family and friends to learn where they will continue their journey to becoming physicians.
This year, 743 UC students matched, with 73 percent remaining in California—up from last year and above the state's overall 63 percent retention rate, which is the highest in the nation.
Mapping the matches
UC Riverside Match Day celebrations had students marking their destinations on a shared map.
Brandon Ngo matched into the much-needed specialty of family medicine at Riverside University Health System. “When I was growing up, I envisioned physicians to be the ones at the forefront of really taking care of patients… and being with them on their lifelong journey,” said Ngo of his reason for choosing his specialty. He worked at the Riverside Free Clinic during medical school, where he said the patients taught him both about medicine and about himself.
At UC Davis School of Medicine, Aseem Kelly stood surrounded by family—this time not as a supporter, but as a participant.
Three years earlier, he had watched his wife open her Match Day results. She matched at her first choice, which was UC Davis Health’s combined Family Medicine and Psychiatry Residency program. Now, surrounded by his wife, daughter and extended family, he matched into psychiatry at the Kaiser Permanente Sacramento Psychiatry Residency Program, marking a full-circle moment.
“Today represents so much hard work, along with countless unseen moments and decisions along the way,” he said.
UC Davis School of Medicine students share where they'll be going next for residency.
Our students are headed everywhere - back home to serve their communities, into specialties they’ve been working toward, and into what’s next.
Around here, we say you can stay forever. No matter where they go, UCSF will always be home.
Primary care and community impact
Across UC, 38 percent of students matched into primary care, including 30 percent who will train in primary care within California. Spanning internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics, primary care residency training is an essential part of strengthening and expanding access to health care in California.
A PRIME example
This year, 86 percent of UC PRIME students will remain in California for residency, with over a third entering primary care residencies — highlighting how UC is expanding a physician workforce aligned with the state’s greatest needs. UC PRIME is an innovative training curriculum tailored to local community health needs—recruiting, training and retaining students committed to serving those communities.
Austin O’Callaghan Langhoff, who grew up in Redding and attended Fresno State for undergrad, joined the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) PRIME program at the UCSF School of Medicine, preparing to serve communities with some of the greatest health care needs.
He matched into the UCSF Fresno Internal Medicine Residency Program, committed to continuing to provide care in the Central Valley.
Langhoff and Rivera were among six students of the 14 SJV PRIME students who matched residency programs in the Central Valley. Thirteen of the students matched in California and 12 matched with UC campuses.
At the UCSF School of Medicine, Alice Summer Tang, MSTP, reflected on the significance of Match Day as she matched into dermatology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. A Forbes Under 30 in Science honoree, Tang described Match Day as both a culmination and a beginning—a moment she described as “a kind of collapse of many amazing possibilities into a single clear future.” Drawn to dermatology for its breadth, she hopes to pursue research alongside clinical care and credits the collective support of peers, mentors, and programs across UCSF. The joy of patient connections, she said, sustains her commitment to medicine.
UC PRIME provides supplemental education tailored to local community health needs — recruiting, training, and retaining students committed to serving those communities.
Recognized as a successful model of professional education and open to all eligible applicants interested in the program's mission, UC PRIME has grown to 10 programs across 8 campuses, including at all of UC's six schools of medicine.
Pathways into medicine
UC students are entering medicine through a variety of different pathways, which will help them bring life experience, resilience and perspective to their future patients. For students like Gabrielle Shuman, her path to medicine included a pre-medical post-baccalaureate program and several years working as a program manager for a professional dance company before beginning medical school. She now sees these experiences as foundational to her growth.
Looking ahead to what's next
Graduating medical school students at UC San Diego celebrate their residency program matches.
With more than 100 health care pathway programs across the UC system, students gain early awareness and introductions to careers in the health care field.
For Austin Powell, becoming a doctor once seemed unreachable. Growing up on the streets of San Diego and relying on community resources including the San Diego Rescue Mission, soup kitchens and donated clothing, Powell studied and worked in a variety of roles while trying to quiet a persistent pull toward medicine. Those experiences, he said, ultimately shaped his purpose: to give back to others facing similar challenges and to build a more stable future for his family.
Powell matched at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in internal medicine. During his time at UC San Diego, Powell created a mentoring program at California State University San Marcos that aims to bridge gaps in resources for students in North County San Diego who aspire to go into medicine. He also participated in Doc-4-A-Day and other outreach programs designed to educate, inform and inspire high school and undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in medicine.
It’s a match! Whether these UC San Diego School of Medicine graduates are staying in sunny California or heading across the country, we are so proud of the UC medical students that have matched into residency programs nationwide 🥼 🩺
Congratulations, future doctors 🎉
On Friday [March 20], thousands of medical students across the country learned where they will spend their residency to become doctors. NBC 7’s Joe Little was at UC San Diego’s “Match Day” ceremony, where dozens of letters containing their futures were opened simultaneously.
Innovation and the future of medicine
Across UC, students are already advancing new approaches to care.
Guidance from two faculty members in particular shaped one student’s path to orthopedic surgery. Now, graduating UC Irvine medical student Saman Andalib, who is the co-founder of an AI-focused research lab, aims to combine innovation with patient-centered care.
Graduating UC Irvine medical students learn at a festive ceremony where they will first practice as doctors.
Karlos Manzanarez Felix and Trinidad Alcalá-Arcos, who met on the first day of orientation for the UC Irvine School of Medicine, have supported each other for five years, through exams, rotations, setbacks and celebrations.
“We’ve navigated medical school side by side as two students from immigrant, low-income backgrounds,” says Alcalá-Arcos, who is part of the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC). “We’ve leaned on each other through some of the hardest and most defining moments of this journey.”
A shared moment for UC
Across UC’s six schools of medicine, Match Day marks a transition—from student to physician-in-training—and a shared commitment to care. This year, 38% of UC students will continue their training at a UC academic health care center, further strengthening the University’s role in preparing the next generation of physicians.
Echoing that sense of anticipation, Anthony Magit, M.D. ’85, a UC San Diego alumnus, clinical professor of otolaryngology at the School of Medicine, and associate chief medical officer and pediatric otolaryngologist at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, welcomed students into the profession.
“This is a momentous day in your life, but it is also the start of an adventure. For those of you going 3,000 miles away or those of you we will see walking around Jacobs Medical Center, we are so excited to welcome you into the field and to welcome you to the most exciting part of your career."
