This week is Match Week, when thousands of graduating medical students find out where they will continue their training as residents. On Match Day, Friday, March 15, hundreds of California students will learn whether they can stay and practice in California – or if they must leave the state for residency.

The National Resident Matching Program results come after graduating medical students have applied for the residency programs of their choice. Both the students and residency programs rank their preferences, with the results announced on the third Friday in March.

The California Medical Association (CMA) wants to hear from the medical students of California as you find out where you’ll be completing your training. Whatever your specialty and wherever you end up, we’d love to see your social media posts, using the hashtags #MatchDay2024 or #MatchedinCA. Make sure to tag @cmadocs so we can share and celebrate your accomplishments!

"Congratulations to all the dedicated medical students who will be matched with residency programs this week," said CMA President Tanya W. Spirtos, M.D. "Match Day represents the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice, as medical students finally discover where they will begin their careers as resident physicians. California loses some of our newest physicians every year due to a shortage of residency slots. That's why we are working tirelessly through Physicians for a Healthy California to expand residency programs and train more physicians to care for Californians."

Because of funding constraints, California – where significant areas of the state already face physician shortages, especially in primary care – lacks enough primary care residency opportunities for graduating medical students. This means that scores of well-qualified new physicians who would like to train here instead must leave the state because there are not enough training positions to accommodate them.

The California Future Health Workforce Commission estimates that California will have a shortfall of 4,100 primary care physicians by 2030, when the  demand for primary care clinicians in California is projected to exceed supply by 12 to 17%. CMA’s foundation—Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC)—in partnership with the University of California, established the CalMedForce grant program to help address California’s physician shortage by supporting the residency programs where medical school graduates must continue training to obtain a medical license and care for patients independently.

To date, PHC has awarded more than $226 million in CalMedForce grants across the state to support medical training and residency programs and help grow the physician workforce.

CalMedForce is funded by the voter-approved Proposition 56 tobacco tax of 2016 and administered by PHC, and supports hundreds of residency positions across the state, with an emphasis on those serving medically underserved groups and communities.