The final numbers for medical school residency are in, and the Kansas City University (KCU) 2019 graduating class of osteopathic physicians has achieved a 100 percent placement into residencies.
Every student who graduated from KCU is now employed by a residency program in order to advance their medical training.
“The 100 percent placement is not something all medical schools are able to accomplish,” said Josh Cox, DO, associate dean of Clinical Education. “It speaks to the high caliber and competitive nature of our students.”
Of the 235 KCU graduates, 100 or 42.98 percent entered primary care specialties. Other specialties included ophthalmology, plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, psychiatry, dermatology, obstetrics and gynecology, and emergency medicine.
This achievement comes at a time when the competitiveness for these positions continues to increase. As enrollment in medical schools is on the rise, the ability of residency positions to keep pace remains a major concern — in large part due to a longtime cap on Medicare-funded training positions, which have been frozen at 1996 levels.
The length of residency training is three to seven years depending on the specific specialty. Some specialties offer an extended fellowship training of an additional one to three years.
According to Cox, achieving a 100 percent placement is not only an accomplishment for each graduate who secured a residency, but for all of those at KCU who have educated and supported these new physicians on their journey through medical school.
“Hearing what programs and what specialties our students entered into is very exciting and rewarding for the faculty who taught these students during their time at KCU,” Cox said.
Updated July 22, 2020
