"MATCH DAY" at UCSF Shows Continued Interest in Primary Care by Medical Students.

SAN FRANCISC0--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 1995--Slightly more than half of this year's UCSF graduating medical students will pursue residencies in primary care fields next year, mirroring a growing national trend toward training physicians in generalist disciplines. For the first time in seven years, more than 50 percent of the nation's medical school seniors will go into primary care fields, according to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Last year, 48.1 percent pursued a similar course.

In the NRMP results announced last week, 94 out of 146 (64 percent) UCSF medical graduates matched with their first choice of residency. Twenty students got their second choice, and nine students got their third choice.

"Included in these choices are some of the most desirable and competitive programs in the country," Michael Drake, MD, associate dean of admissions for the UCSF School of Medicine, says. "Our students continue to compete and match for the best residency programs."

Of a total of 13,549 graduating medical students nationwide, 24.5 percent will go into internal medicine (3,322), 15.4 percent (2,081) will go into family practice, and 11.1 percent (1,502) will go into pediatric residencies.

Of the UCSF graduates, 20 percent (30) will go into internal medicine, 17 percent (25) will go into family practice, nine percent (12) will go into pediatric residencies, and five percent (7) will go into the obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences.

Drake says that this year's numbers reflect a 20-year trend at UCSF.

"Since 1973, we've seen that about half of our graduating medical students go into primary care fields. Furthermore, they tend to stay in those fields," Drake says.

Of the UCSF students who graduated in 1989, half are still practicing primary care five years after starting their residencies. Oftentimes, students will pursue a more specialized training once they enter a primary care field.

"Our students are sensitive to what is happening in the marketplace, and primary care is becoming increasingly more important," Drake says.

Fifty-five to sixty percent of underrepresented minority students at UCSF pursue primary care training, as opposed to 40 to 45 percent of non-underrepresented minority students, according to Drake.

"At UCSF, we tend to have a higher representation of underrepresented minority groups than at many other research-based schools. And these students tend to go into primary care at a higher rate," Drake says.

The NRMP was established in 1952 as a clearinghouse for medical students, who submit their choice of where to go, and for residency programs, that submit their choices of whom to accept. The NRMP cross references the applications with the residency programs and announces all the matches on one day. The program provides a common time for the announcement of the appointments, as well as an agreement for both applicants and programs to honor the commitment to offer or to accept an appointment if a match results.

CONTACT: University of California, San Francisco 

Rebecca Higbee, 415/476-2557