Fresno medical students celebrate residency

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Thousands of graduating medical students from across the nation are celebrating Friday because they now know where they'll finish out their post-grad residency.

Surrounded by friends, family and Facetime, medical students have met their match. The annex at UCSF Fresno was filled with tears of joy as five San Joaquin Valley Prime students got paired with their post-grad residency.

"Oh my goodness, I think my heart stopped for a second," student Katy Ruch said when she heard the news that she was heading to Children's Hospital Oakland.

"I'm so glad I got to do my third and fourth clinical years here in the Valley, especially since this is where I want to come back to practice," Ruch said.

Hoping to pursue a career in neonatology, she'll have a second match day in 3 years when she applies for her fellowship.

"Across the entire nation everybody today in every medical school is finding out where they're going to be for the next 3 to 6 years of training," Dr. Kenny Banh with UCSF Fresno. "So, it's very high anxiety but a lot of excitement."

This is the second graduating class of SJV Prime and the first match day ever held in the Central Valley. San Joaquin Valley Prime is a cooperation between UC San Francisco, UCSF Fresno, UC Davis and UC Merced.

"This is the first program that the students are from here," Banh said. "They learn here, they live here and learning Central Valley needs"

The degree-granting school is UC Davis but they do most clinical training at UCSF Fresno.

"For the first time, we have Central Valley kids pipelining through to be doctors serving the Central Valley of the future and it's the first time were celebrating that here," Banh said.

All five of the SJV Prime students that got matched say that after their 3 to 5 years of post grad, they plan on practicing right back here in the Central Valley.