Match Day 2024: Nearly 50% of UF’s medical school class to care for Floridians during residency training

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Nearly half of the University of Florida’s graduating medical school class will continue their medical training in the state, according to data released Friday afternoon.

At noon on March 15, class of 2024 medical students around the country learned where they will spend the next three to seven years of their residency training programs, determined through the National Resident Matching Program. During their residencies, new physicians receive comprehensive training in their chosen specialties and develop the foundational clinical skills needed to become board-certified.

At the UF College of Medicine, 128 graduating medical students matched into residency programs in 2024. Of this group, 57 students, or 45%, will remain in the Sunshine State to continue their medical training, which begins this summer.

About 39% of the 2024 UF medical school graduates who will complete their residencies in Florida are pursuing careers in a primary care specialty: internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics or obstetrics and gynecology.

Better access to primary care has been shown to improve the treatment of chronic conditions and increase life expectancy, but nationwide shortages and an uneven distribution of primary care providers have contributed to significant challenges facing these providers, according to fall 2023 data from the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

There are 76.5 primary care physicians per 100,000 people in Florida, according to 2021 U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates and Health Resources and Services Administration provider data. Florida ranks slightly below the national average rate of 83.4 providers per 100,000 people.

“The class of 2024 entered medical school in the early days of the pandemic and has managed to persevere and thrive despite global challenges and the demanding environment of medical school,” said Shelley Collins, M.D., FAAP, the senior associate dean for undergraduate medical education. “We are thrilled that, while many of our students will be putting what they’ve learned into practice at a number of great institutions across the country, a large portion of our graduating students this year will continue to serve patients in Florida, in Gainesville and beyond.”

Read more about the 2024 UF College of Medicine Match Day.