Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine (KPSOM) celebrated Match Day on March 20 at the Pasadena Convention Center, where the Class of 2026 gathered with family members, friends, faculty, and school leadership to learn where they will begin residency training. Every student who entered the match process successfully matched into a residency program, continuing KPSOM’s record of a 100 percent match result.
The celebration unfolded a little differently than the customary Match Day tradition. KPSOM students received their results by email in the morning, then came together later for a ceremony that was also livestreamed for loved ones unable to attend in person.
In his welcome remarks, Dean and CEO John L. Dalrymple, MD, described Match Day as one of the biggest milestones in a physician’s training. “It’s definitely emotional,” he said. “It’s incredibly exhilarating to see the results of the students, to see how happy they are, and just to see their pure joy and elation.”
He told the crowd that the day is about more than individual success, noting the wide range of programs represented in the class. “It’s so great to see the students match in the range of specialties … from primary care to subspecialty care,” he said. “[And] to see students match into the Kaiser Permanente residencies and into programs around the country.”
For many students, the emotional weight of the morning was part of what made the day unforgettable. Jonathan Mina Ragheb chose to do things a little differently; rather than open his email in the morning, he waited until he stood on stage at the ceremony and opened an envelope to find out the results. “I actually just deleted the app so that I could find out with everyone, at the same time,” he said. “Utter relief” was how he described the moment he learned the news that he’d matched into orthopaedic surgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, the primary teaching affiliate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Ragheb said orthopaedic surgery drew him because it allows patients to regain function and return to the lives they want to live. “I found that to be the most fulfilling part of medicine,” he said.
Ronnie Yunjie Li, who matched into obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, said she opened her email with her best friend, roommate, and fellow student Joanne Li and was overwhelmed by the moment. “I was absolutely shocked. I started tearing up. She started crying. It was just a very beautiful moment for us to share together,” she said.
Li said she felt honored to match at a program she had long admired. “It was a place that I didn’t even dream to be able to match at,” she said. “I was just very surprised that I get to train at one of the best institutions in the United States for ob-gyn.”
Joanne Li, who matched into ophthalmology at University Hospital of Brooklyn, the teaching hospital of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University through an earlier specialty match in late January, said Match Day was equally meaningful from the other side of the friendship. Because she had already learned her own result, she was able to focus entirely on supporting her friend. “This morning was amazing,” she said. “We opened the email together, took videos, and then she FaceTimed all her friends and family. It was really, really nice to be there.”
