UCF and Hospital Corporation of America’s joint residency programs gained more than 100 new physicians after National Match Day results and nine of the new residents are from the UCF College of Medicine.

Through a partnership with HCA, UCF now has 11 accredited residency programs in Central and North Central Florida with more on the way. Through the HCA consortium, the medical school hopes to add approximately 600 residency spots in Florida by 2020 to help relieve the state and nation’s physician shortage.

“We’re very pleased to have so many UCF students in our consortium programs,” said Dr. Diane Davey, associate dean for graduate medical education. “Today means we are going to be adding 100 physicians who will be training and serving patients in the Central Florida area.”

The bulk of the UCF graduates are entering a transitional year residency based at Osceola Regional Medical Center. A transitional year – also called an internship – is required for many specialties such as dermatology and ophthalmology before residents go on to more specialized training.

UCF medical student Jae Kim will do his ophthalmology residency at Wayne State University and was thrilled to match at UCF, his first choice, for his transitional year. “My heart is here,” he said. “I’ve established connections here and am excited to continue the work to help build UCF’s program.”

Kim came to UCF after getting his graduate engineering degree at UCLA and working to build faster, cheaper cell phones. He decided he wanted to use his scientific training to help people and came to the College of Medicine because it requires all medical students to do research. While in medical school, he developed a machine that can test uric acid levels in the blood of gout patients and a computerized imaging process that could help doctors diagnose diseases of the eye earlier and more accurately. The inventions have earned state and national honors.

Joseph Caravaglio will do his dermatology residency at Brown University after completing his transitional year at the UCF-HCA residency program. “I’m absolutely excited,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to train in Orlando for another year because I love Orlando and I love UCF.”

Dr. Abdo Asmar is program director for the College of Medicine’s first residency program, internal medicine, in partnership with Osceola Regional Medical Center and the Orlando VA Medical Center. Transitional year residents will spend a great deal of time working in Dr. Asmar’s program.

“These are pioneers who have taken a chance on a new program and want to work with us to create a legacy,” he said. “We’re very excited to have so many of our outstanding students join us in providing excellent care to our patients and expanding our educational programs.”