Medical students across the nation waited with anticipation on Friday morning to learn where they would spend the next few years of their medical training. At the UCR School of Medicine’s Match Day event, students gathered with their family members and friends to celebrate the news.

At 9 am exactly, students opened envelopes containing the name and location of their residency program. Cheers and tears filled the room at the Marinaj Banquets and Events in Moreno Valley as students celebrated this milestone event.

This year, 98.7% of UCR SOM fourth-year medical students placed into residency programs, a similar rate to previous years. Notably, 92% will remain in California and 51% in the Inland Empire, supporting the UCR SOM’s mission to improve healthcare in the region. In addition, 37% will be entering much-needed primary care specialties.

Sisters Kashmaila and Aavaisra Ali will both stay in the area: Kashmaila in neurology at Loma Linda University Health and Aavaisra in family medicine at Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center. Their goal, they said, was to remain in the Inland Empire. “We were born and raised here, we know what it's like to be underserved, and… we really wanted to stay here,” Kashmaila said. One recalled helping the other open her STEP exam results, and today, they looked at each other’s match results before their own to make sure they would both be happy. “We got really lucky, and we’re just really grateful,” Aavaisra said.

Deborah Deas, MD, MPH, the vice chancellor for health sciences and the Mark and Pam Rubin dean of the School of Medicine, congratulated the Class of 2026. “At your White Coat Ceremony, we shared the significance of the white coat and implored you to reflect on the humanism values in medicine every time you don the white coat,” Deas said, reminding students of the ceremony at the beginning of medical school that symbolized the first step in their medical journey.

Match Day, she continued, marked another pivotal milestone as students progress to residency training. “This is where all those values of the UCR School of Medicine and that of the humanism in medicine must coalesce and ground your understanding that the patient is first, and you’re there to serve,” she said. “You should never lose sight of this.”

For student Charity Hall, practicing medicine is all about serving her community. Hall matched into her first-choice residency program of psychiatry at UCR, located just a few minutes from her family’s home. “That means going back to advocating for mental health, and what better way can I do that than by staying local here?” said Hall, who hopes to focus on mental health in children. “I'm super happy.”

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. “It's really nice to continue my journey, finish off my training, and return to the community where it all started,” he said.

“This is just the beginning; your future has yet to be fully written,” Hanh The-Trinh Nguyen, MD, associate dean of Career Advising, told the audience. Following Nguyen’s speech, the students gave a standing ovation to recognize and thank him for his support.

“You’re going to thrive and make an incredible difference in your communities and an immense impact on your patients’ lives,” Nguyen added. “The class of 2026, I know you’ll do amazing things, and remember: You’ve got this.”