■CHSU medical students learned where they’re going for residency programs.

■The College of Osteopathic Medicine’s inaugural class achieved a match rate of 100%.

■Thirty-four percent were matched to residencies in the Central Valley.

There was a palpable sense of excitement Friday morning at California Health Sciences University as the first graduating class of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and family members waited to learn where the graduates would go for their medical residency programs.

“Match Day” is a longstanding tradition for medical school students, an opportunity to celebrate the hard work of completing four years of medical school and preparing for three-plus years in residencies.

CHSU officials had an extra reason to celebrate Friday — 100% of the 65 graduates were matched to residency programs, which college officials called “extraordinary.” Of them, 34% will remain in the Central Valley, serving at hospitals from as far north as Roseville and Sacramento to as far south as Bakersfield.

Some of them nabbed residencies at local hospitals that included Saint Agnes Medical Center, Valley Children’s Hospital, UCSF Fresno, and Kaweah Delta Health Care District.

Before the 9 a.m. “unveil,” students and their families talked excitedly around tables in the university’s large multipurpose room, their fate in a golden envelope in front of them.

Megan Chisesi, whose parents drove in from Colorado Springs to share the moment, said she was struggling with the suspense. “I don’t think we slept at all last night,” she said.

Chisesi met her partner at CHSU, and the two had put in for a “couples match” that would place them at residencies within the same area. When it was time to open their envelopes, they learned that they’re heading to the New York City area.

No Surprises

Unlike other classmates, there was no envelope-opening suspense for Tanner Van Es and three other graduates whose educations were covered by the U.S. military. Van Es, a graduate of Bullard High School and UC Davis, already knew he was headed to Keesler Air Force Base Medical Center in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Van Es said the Air Force covered his medical school costs and a housing stipend.

Sitting nearby was Matt Lansman, a Central West High School and Fresno State graduate who was accompanied by his wife and their 2-year-old daughter, Ellie. The toddler is one of at least six children born while their parents attended CHSU.

Lansman had his fingers crossed to match with the UCSF Fresno program so they could stay close to family. He’s heading instead to the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson.

Mia Hirsch, who grew up in Woodlands Hills in the San Fernando Valley, had hoped to stay in the Fresno area but didn’t get an interview with UCSF Fresno so she didn’t include it on her match list. She’s going to the Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria for a family medicine residency —her top-ranked choice.

She’s among the 65% of the graduating class who will do residencies in primary care.

Too Few Residency Opportunities in Valley

It’s unlikely that Hirsch or the others that matched outside the Valley will return to practice medicine here, even though the region is critically underserved by healthcare providers.

Doctors tend to remain in areas where they serve their residencies, and the Valley still has a drastic shortage of those positions, said Dr. John Graneto, the college’s dean.

“The challenge, of course, here in the Central Valley, is there could be and should be more opportunities for residents to match. And some of our students who wanted to stay in the Central Valley may not have had that opportunity,” he said. “As we know, those who train here in the Central Valley are more likely to stay and practice here, which benefits all of us.”

Graneto, who described himself as the “proud, proud parent of 65 new doctors,” said Friday’s Match Day marked a “historic” moment for the college, the university, and the Valley.

It’s “historic for the Central Valley that we have a full four-year medical school now graduating future doctors for forever,” Graneto said.

The first class to graduate won’t be the last. About 500 medical students are now attending the college, and that number is expected to grow to 600 students in the next year.

The Class of 2028 will arrive in July.

(Disclosure: GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi and other family members founded and own California Health Sciences University, a private university in Clovis.)