SACRAMENTO -- Eighty-three UC Davis School of Medicine students learned today where in the United States they will be continuing their medical education over the next several years as they train to become licensed physicians.

In a gathering filled with anticipation and excitement, the students opened letters of placement at precisely 9 a.m. The announcement of being "matched" with a residency training program was a ritual that took place simultaneously at medical schools across the nation this morning. The students, who will finish medical school in June, celebrated the news with their family, friends, medical school deans and staff at a special ceremony held today on the Davis campus. The placements are based on the computerized results of the National Resident Matching Program, which uses a computer algorithm to match the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency programs at teaching hospitals throughout the country.

At UC Davis, the majority of students (78 percent) will remain in California for training, with about 20 percent staying at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. More than one-third (37 percent) of the students chose residencies in primary care, which includes family practice, general pediatrics and internal medicine. About 25 percent of the graduating class was accepted into advanced subspecialty programs such as anesthesiology, diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine.

Among the most popular choices of training programs among UC Davis graduates were internal medicine, (16 percent), psychiatry (15 percent), family practice (12 percent) and pediatrics (8 percent).

"We're proud that we have such an incredibly diverse group of students, with an impressive range of interests and accomplishments, who will be moving forward in the next stage of their medical education," said James Nuovo, professor of family and community medicine and associate dean of graduate medical education. "Our entire region benefits from their talents and skills because once they finish their residency training, most UC Davis School of Medicine graduates remain in or return to Northern California to establish careers that will focus on caring for patients."

Each year, approximately 16,000 U.S. medical school students participate in the residency match. In addition, thousands of "independent" applicants, who include former graduates of U.S. medical schools, U.S. osteopathic students and graduates of foreign medical schools, compete for the approximately 25,000 available residency positions.

"Today is the culmination of what we've been here working for over the past four years," said Fernando Boschini, a fourth-year medical student who was excited about his match with University of North Carolina Health Care hospitals in Chapel Hill for a residency in diagnostic radiology.

Mondhipa Ratnarathorn was equally happy. Her match was close to home, at the location of her current medical training, UC Davis Medical Center, where she'll be specializing in dermatology.

"This was a surprisingly exciting day and a very joyful one," said Ratnarathorn. "I chose dermatology because skin is often where the first manifestation of disease appears. UC Davis has a terrific dermatology department and I'm looking forward to continuing my training here."

The national match program handled about 36,000 applications last year. This year saw even greater participation across the country.

"The match is an important milestone in the careers of aspiring physicians, and we congratulate all of the students who were successful this year," said Mona Signer, executive director of NRMP. "This year's match was the largest in NRMP history, demonstrating its continued importance not only to medical students, but to the entire graduate medical education community."

The NRMP is a private, not-for-profit corporation established in 1952 to provide a uniform date of appointment to positions in graduate medical education.