University of Central Florida
03/23/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/23/2026 11:59
UCF College of Medicine Exceeds Nation’s Match Placement Rate
UCF's College of Medicine was designed to be a model of 21st-century medical education. The results and euphoria of Friday's annual Match Day reaffirmed the mission as more than 100 students matched into residencies across the nation.
UCF is setting the standard, earning a 99% match placement rate, compared with a national average of 93.5%.
Knights matched into specialties that include internal and family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology, surgery, pathology and emergency medicine, with 46 of the 108 completing some or all their training in Florida.
Nationally, students are headed to programs that include Brown, Duke, Emory, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Vanderbilt. In Florida, students are going to Orlando Health, Miami, University of Florida and University of South Florida. Nine will further strengthen their ties as Knights in UCF-HCA Healthcare residencies in Greater Orlando, Gainesville and Tallahassee.
Medical school students cannot practice medicine immediately after graduation but must do three to seven years of residency training, depending on their specialty. Match results are kept secret until noon on the third Friday in March.
"At noon, as you open your match envelope, you are opening the door to your future," Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and dean, said moments before the long-awaited unveiling.
Knights matched into specialties that include internal and family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology, surgery, pathology and emergency medicine.A Match Day Tradition
Friday's Match Day was particularly meaningful for German, who recently announced she is transitioning away from her role leading the medical school. During her 20 years as dean, German has conducted the first class of medical school for each new cohort. Called, "The Good Doctor - A UCF Tradition," she asks students to think of the person they love most in the world and describe the characteristics of the doctor they want treating their loved one.
She writes those traits on a blackboard, which stays in the College of Medicine lobby as a contract between students, their faculty, patients and community.
Class of 2026 students designed decorative boxes to hold their Match Day envelopes. The boxes contained their Good Doctor words from four years ago, including grateful, humble, compassionate and resourceful.
More than 100 students matched into residencies across the nation at programs that include Brown, Duke, Emory, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, UCLA and Vanderbilt.Finding Their Match
Ariana Johnson began to cry even before she opened her envelope and learned she will be doing her otolaryngology residency at Old Dominion University. A recipient of UCF's highest student honor, the Order of Pegasus, Johnson says the tears came as she realized she was finally achieving her dream after four years of hard work in medical school. As an ear, nose and throat specialist, she will be able to combine excellence in surgery with clinical patient care.
"I'll be providing longitudinal care for patients," she said. "With this specialty, you get to know patients for their whole lives."
"I've wanted this since I was in middle school." - Brandon Molligoda
Brandon Molligoda matched into neurology at Duke. He says his match result "means everything to me. I've wanted this since I was in middle school. I was always fascinated with how the brain works."
Holly Moots '17 '24PhD is the third M.D./Ph.D. graduate in UCF's history. She researched pancreatic cancer during her joint degree and was thrilled to match into internal medicine at Lakeland Regional Hospital because of the residency's focus on research and clinical trials.
"With my background, I want to take what I've learned in the labs and translate that into a clinical setting," she said. "I can finally use all of this knowledge I got here at UCF and apply it to help patients."
Nine UCF med students will further strengthen their ties as Knights in UCF-HCA Healthcare residencies in Greater Orlando, Gainesville and Tallahassee.Addressing Florida's Physician Shortage
The UCF-HCA Graduate Medical Education Consortium is the fastest growing residency and fellowship program in Florida and by this summer will be training more than 800 physicians in Greater Orlando, Sanford, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Ocala, Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach. UCF-HCA filled all their residency programs during National Match Day, adding 310 new physicians.
"As the need for physicians grows in the state of Florida, with an estimated 18,000 physician shortage projected over the next decade, we are helping to meet those needs," says Stephen Cico, UCF's associate dean for graduate medical education and the UCF-HCA consortium's designated institutional official. "We are focused on medical specialties that are or are going to be in the highest demand."
Primary care is one of those specialties.
Victoria Millington '21, who earned her bachelor's degree in biomedical sciences before pursing her MD, is one of five Knights who will be staying in Orlando to serve their residences. She matched into her first-choice, internal medicine at the UCF-HCA Healthcare program in Greater Orlando.
Millington says she chose the specialty because it allows her to have long-term relationships with patients and coordinate with specialists to "bring all of the pieces of care together."
"We are excited to welcome the next generation of physicians who will carry forward our mission - above all else, to care for and improve human life - and deliver compassionate, patient-centered care in the communities we are honored to serve," says Cheryll Albold, who serves as vice president of graduate medical education for HCA Healthcare's North Florida Division.
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University of Central Florida published this content on March 23, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 23, 2026 at 17:59 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]