Future doctors from the UTRGV School of Medicine found out where they will continue their medical education as part of the university’s Match Day.

“This is the next stepping stone in the journey to becoming a physician,” university dean Dr. Michael Hocker said. “So they will be graduating here in a few months, and then they will be going to residency programs.

A total of 51 medical students participated in the event. Dr. Hocker said 50% of those students will stay in Texas, while 20% of them will remain in the Valley.

"Hopefully we can keep more of the Valley kids and those in Texas here in the Rio Grande Valley taking care of patients here,” Dr. Hocker said. "Many of them are from Texas, and we hope that we'll be able to recruit them back."

For internal medicine student Khairiya Hajyahya, the pandemic made her work harder to help patients in the area. She matched with DHR Health.

“I'm stoked to be staying here and serving in the community where I grew up," Hajyahya said. “There were lots of things that we weren't necessarily prepared for and I think in the end it's just going to help make us better doctors, better interns." 

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