Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine Announces Residency Placements of Inaugural Medical School Class

The Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in downtown Pasadena celebrated its first annual Match Day, a milestone event for the new medical school and its inaugural class of students. On Match Day, medical students learn where they will begin their careers as physicians.

KPSOM students opened their results today at 9:00 a.m. PDT — when most residency applicants across the United States received their results. The KPSOM inaugural class and their guests, along with KPSOM leadership, faculty, and staff, gathered together shortly after to celebrate the significance and hard work involved in achieving this milestone.

Match Day is a momentous occasion in a medical student’s journey as they learn where they have been matched for a residency or fellowship training program in their chosen specialty.

The National Resident Matching Program matches most medical students through a computerized mathematical algorithm that places applicants and programs together based on their ranked preferences.

“KPSOM’s inaugural class is a group of passionate, caring, and creative students whose years of hard work have now led them to the threshold of residency,” said Mark Schuster, MD, PhD, Founding Dean and Chief Executive Officer of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. “It’s our mission to support the development of our students as compassionate future physicians who improve the health and well-being of their patients and communities. We are extremely proud of our first class of students and their exciting residency placements.”

Among the graduating class, 62% of students will remain in California for their residencies, with 19% of students matched to a Kaiser Permanente residency program for all or part of their training. The top three institutions with the most matches for our students are the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Washington. Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Family Medicine are the top three most matched specialty programs, and 38% are matched into primary care specialties, including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics.

“It has been an honor to support and watch this class grow, learn, and thrive over the last four years,” said Anne Eacker, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. “From beginning their medical education at the height of the global pandemic to starting clinical training just three weeks into their first year, this class was differentiated from other residency candidates from the start of their medical education journey. I believe our students are uniquely positioned for the challenges and rewards that come with joining the physician workforce.”

“Starting residency has multiple meanings to me,” said KPSOM student Lucas Saporito. “It is the culmination of all the work and dedication in medical school. It’s also the start of a new journey, one that is more focused and allows more personalization toward my future practice. This milestone is important because I get to train and learn while providing more hands-on care for patients… It will be a challenging — and often humbling — opportunity, and one that I will cherish.”

The inaugural KPSOM class will graduate in May 2024. The students will begin their residencies following graduation with the skills learned from KPSOM’s forward-thinking approach to medical education.

The school’s innovative approach includes:

• A core curriculum that emphasizes a holistic view of health and integrates biomedical science, clinical science, and health systems science with a focus on case-based, interactive, small-group learning 
• A commitment to addressing health inequities and advocating for equity, inclusion, and diversity in medical education and healthcare through community engagement and a service-learning curriculum 
• A multimodal anatomy program utilizing cutting-edge technology and anatomical structures preserved by plastination 
• Precepted clinical learning starting within the first three weeks of medical school to facilitate early clinical reinforcement of concepts

To learn more about KPSOM’s curriculum and hands-on preparation for residency and beyond, visit medschool.kp.org/education/residency-preparedness.