Match Day reveals postgraduate paths for medical students

With the festive mood under clear, sunny skies of a Los Angeles morning, an observer might not have guessed what hung in the balance for those assembled at USC’s Health Sciences Campus. Members of the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Class of 2025 gathered, with family and friends around them, to receive momentous news about the next step toward their careers in medicine.

On March 21 this year, fourth-year medical students from across North America took part in a significant milestone known as Match Day. At 9 a.m. PDT on the dot, each student tore open an envelope containing the name of the program that will be their home for residency training. Prior to this moment, candidates had submitted applications to potential postgraduate specialties and destinations, ranking them in order of preference, through the National Resident Matching Program. Everything is revealed on Match Day, which always falls on the third Friday of March.

At USC, the big moment was met with yelps of joy and arms flung high in triumph. The cohort’s overall match rate for 2025 was 97.4%.

“I got USC, my No. 1!” said Fergui Hernandez, who will return to the Keck School of Medicine for orthopedic surgery training. “I have no words. I’m over the moon happy, not only for me but also for my mom and my family, all my loved ones. My win is their win.”

Hernandez is a first-generation college student who always loved science and is a people person by nature, making a future in medicine seem an intuitive fit. Growing up part of an underserved, predominantly Latino community in Vista, California, she saw family members and neighbors struggle to access quality health care due to factors including insurance status and the language barrier. Their stories have served as a major inspiration for pursuing her calling.

“Beyond the stellar mentorship that is available in the orthopedics program, it’s really the patients that are bringing me back,” Hernandez said. “I see my family in them. I see my community in them. I see myself in them.”

The biggest influence of all was her mother, Grace Benitez, an immigrant from Mexico who supported her family working long hours as a housekeeper. She was an unstinting source of support and encouragement.

“I remember telling my mom early on, ‘I want to be a doctor,’” Hernandez said. “She told me, ‘OK. You’ve got to work hard.’ That’s kind of how it went from there. She never stopped believing in me.”

Hernandez is among nearly one in three members of the Class of 2025 continuing their training at USC. She hopes that her Keck School of Medicine residency will be the launchpad for a career in academic medicine where she can pursue her passions for providing tailored, compassionate patient care, conducting innovative research and offering mentorship.

She ultimately aims to work at a place like USC as well, connected with both public and private health systems, where she can help guide underserved Spanish-speaking patients to better health outcomes.

“Beyond the stellar mentorship that is available in the orthopedics program, it’s really the patients that are bringing me back,” Hernandez said. “I see my family in them. I see my community in them. I see myself in them.”

The dean of the Keck School of Medicine, Carolyn Meltzer, MD, led a brief program preceding the opening of envelopes. Her welcome remarks emphasized that the practice of medicine in a time of rapid progress will require adaptability and a knack for leadership.

“You’ll be asked to make difficult decisions,” said Meltzer, holder of the May S. and John H. Hooval, M.D., Dean’s Chair and professor of radiology. “You’ll be charged with shaping and implementing new techniques and models — understanding both the benefits and the challenges. Most of all, you’ll need to look ahead, empowering the people around you, providing compassion and expertise hand in hand.”

Medical student Priya Kohli is excited about her forthcoming specialty of urology, both for how central research is to the field and for the challenge of conducting surgery. She will be honing her skills at her top choice, the University of Michigan.

“Getting your result just feels like bliss,” said Kohli, a first-generation student from the Bay Area. “It’s like, ‘Finally! The last step is complete.’ I mean, obviously I have my job search and career ahead. But at least today, I know I will be a urologist.”

As with Hernandez, her ambitions in medicine started young, and family also plays an important part in her personal story. Kohli notes that the culture of South Asia, where her family originates, treats cousins like siblings and aunts and uncles like parents. So she persevered through medical school with the encouragement of a large cheering section — “my immediate family is 95 people, all living within a five- to 10-mile radius,” she said — that also takes in a close-knit group of longtime friends.

Kohli, who will earn an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business alongside her medical degree, is keeping an open mind as to the exact shape her future in medicine will take. But she knows that research will be an essential piece of the puzzle, having developed a passion for it at the Keck School of Medicine.

“Going to USC was so vital for growing,” Kohli said. “If I went anywhere else, I wouldn’t have necessarily explored all my options. It’s so easy to explore here, with so much research going on. There’s so much access to amazing people who do all sorts of different things, and USC has one of the best urology departments in the world.”

She got a unique perspective on the impact of research while helping with clinical studies of a device to treat incontinence; over the weeks, she watched many patients’ quality of life improve dramatically. Kohli believes the sheer variety of investigations and the depth of expertise at USC’s medical school has set her up for success.

“Going to USC was so vital for growing,” Kohli said. “There’s so much access to amazing people who do all sorts of different things, and USC has one of the best urology departments in the world.”

The Keck School of Medicine’s dean offered some words of advice for Kohli, Hernandez and their peers in concluding her comments during the morning’s program.

“Lean into the passions that brought you here and give you purpose,” Meltzer said. “Identify the questions that ignite your curiosity. … Whether it’s in the realm of research, patient care, public health, policy or something else, lean into what energizes you to contribute to human health. Remind yourself of that core passion every day.”

Click here for more about Match Day.