This spring marks several notable successes for our remarkable UC Davis School of Medicine community. We continue to be a national role model in training talented, diverse physician leaders and trailblazing new research frontiers.
This year, the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research again placed our school among the nation’s leading medical schools for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding — with more than $200 million in NIH grants in 2022. U.S. News & World Report also ranked our school among the top 50 medical schools for research.
Leveraging our strength in transdisciplinary research, this year the School of Medicine and College of Letters and Science collaborated to help launch the UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics. The institute seeks to advance basic knowledge about the mechanisms of psychedelics and translate it into safe and effective treatments for diseases such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
In March, all 106 of our fourth-year medical students who participated in the national Match Day program were matched to prestigious residency programs across specialties. The vast majority, 82%, will stay in California after graduating in May, and 23% will remain at UC Davis Health.
Most of these fourth-year students, 58%, will go into primary care programs. We are proud that these talented future primary care providers are optimally prepared to meet their patients’ needs, especially those in rural and other underserved communities.
This spring, the School of Medicine again ranked in the top 10 in the country for diversity, primary care and family medicine, and was 15th in psychiatry.
Our school also received national recognition from the Association of American Medical Colleges and news outlets for our leadership in achieving one of the most diverse medical schools in the country.
Key to our success are our many collaborative pre-med pathway programs. This includes our newest program, Avenue M, which creates a pathway from community college to medical school in order to address the shortage of primary care physicians in California’s medically underserved areas. This is one of seven of our innovative pathway programs helping us to develop a physician workforce in California that better reflects the state’s population, and will contribute to improving the lives of diverse communities statewide.
We believe strongly in putting our school’s values into action. An excellent example of this was our February School of Medicine Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento 2023 Build for Unity event. It was yet another meaningful way for students, trainees, faculty, and staff from across our school to make a positive impact in the Sacramento region.
Thank you for supporting our school community as we collectively reach new heights in our education, research, clinical care, and community partnership missions.
