MATCH DAY 2025
Jess Halla (M.D. ’24) is one of the first 15 alumni to graduate from the UMKC St. Joseph Campus. Halla matched with the family medicine program at the University of Kansas-Wichita.
Historic Match Day for School of Medicine
THE YEAR 2025 marked a major milestone for the UMKC School of Medicine. For the first time, on Friday, March 21, the school celebrated Match Day in not just one – but two locations.
The first cohort of 15 graduates at the UMKC St. Joseph Campus, which opened in 2021, tore open their envelopes at the exact moment their peers in Kansas City also found out their fates.
The School of Medicine St. Joseph Campus was designed with a clear purpose: to train the next generation of rural physicians. The program offers students a unique opportunity to learn in smaller hospitals and clinics, gaining hands-on experience in settings where they are needed most.
“I really found my passion while at the St. Joseph Campus,” said Jess Halla (M.D. ’24). “I was paired with a family med physician who really opened my eyes to not only family physician who really opened medicine and how it could play a role in a smaller community, but rural medicine too, and the barriers they face.”
When applying for residency programs, Halla was looking for a place that would expose her to a variety of medical practices so she would be prepared for everything that comes with being a rural doctor. Her match with the family medicine program at the University of Kansas–Wichita provides just that.
“I know this is exactly where I’m meant to be, and I’m looking forward to this journey,” said Halla.
Between the Kansas City and St. Joseph Campuses, 135 graduates matched at a nearly 100% match rate, higher than the national average. More than 50% matched into primary care, and a third matched in Missouri or the Kansas City metro area.
ST. JOSEPH GRADUATE MATCHES
EMERGENCY MEDICINE Rahul Jilakara Loyola University Medical Center - Maywood, IL FAMILY MEDICINE Ashley Ayers CoxHealth - Springfield, MO
Jess Halla University of Kansas - Wichita, KS
Michaela Nicole Lopez UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Anna Phillips UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Emma Smith UMKC - Kansas City, MO INTERNAL MEDICINE Sameer Khan Advocate Health Care - Oak Lawn, IL INTERNAL MEDICINE PRELIMINARY YEAR Abigail Bowser UMKC - Kansas City, MO
INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY Wesley Stark MedStar Georgetown University Hospital - Washington, D.C. NEUROLOGY Nataleigh Meier University of Kansas - Kansas City, KS OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY Kealy Elenor Kornitzer University of Arkansas - Little Rock, AR ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY Will Obert Geisinger Health System - Danville, PA OTOLARYNGOLOGY Maria Johnson University of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM PSYCHIATRY Alexandra Gokee University Hospitals - Columbia, MO RADIATION ONCOLOGY Abigail Bowser University of Nebraska Medical Center - Omaha, NE
KANSAS CITY GRADUATE MATCHES
ANESTHESIOLOGY Lucas Georger University of Kansas - Kansas City, KS
Elizabeth Puthumana University of Miami Jackson Health System - Miami, FL
Avery Engelmeyer Sems UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Felix Yang Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - Boston, MA DERMATOLOGY Bianca Ituarte Henry Ford Hospital - Detroit, MI
Anika Pulumati University of South Florida Morsani - Tampa, FL
Victoria Shi Emory University - Atlanta, GA
Jacob Tribble Montefiore Medical Center - Bronx, NY DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY Dean Adkins UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Amber Sun Loma Linda University - Loma Linda, CA
Conner Verhulst University of Kansas - Kansas City, KS EMERGENCY MEDICINE Allye Gardner University of Texas Southwestern - Dallas, TX
Anik Jain University of Florida - Jacksonville, FL
Daniel Terry UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Valeriia Tsukhai University of Texas Southwestern - Dallas, TX FAMILY MEDICINE Mirdhula Ananthamurugan Mercy Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Kimberly Arroyo UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Priya Barua Case Western/The MetroHealth System - Cleveland, OH
Lavanya Kolluru Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center - Milwaukee, WI
Katie Long University Hospitals - Columbia, MO
Neehar Deven Shah University Hospitals - Columbia, MO
Jessica Smith University of Arkansas - Jonesboro, AR
Samena Talib HCA Healthcare - Kansas City, MO
Wes Weske Family Health Centers of San Diego - San Diego, CA GENERAL SURGERY Rana M. Ekilah HCA Healthcare - Overland Park, KS
Manasa Gadiraju University of Vermont Medical Center - Burlington, VT
Keerti Ivaturi University of Iowa - Iowa City, IA
Kali Kuhnert ECU Health Medical Center - Greenville, NC
Sharan Kaur Mangat Arrowhead Regional Medical Center - Colton, CA
Abby Meier Indiana University - Indianapolis, IN
Savannah Miller University of Arkansas - Little Rock, AR INTERNAL MEDICINE Amit Ahluwalia Santa Clara Valley Medical Center - San Jose, CA
Achintya Benegal University of Illinois - Chicago, IL
Anna Boda University Hospitals - Columbia, MO
Gabriel Calderon UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Shannan Chan Mercy Health, St. Rita’s Medical Center - Lima, OH
Benji Chatters Louisiana State University Health - Lafayette, LA
Stuti Dalal Case Western/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center - Cleveland, OH
Nikitha Damisetty Case Western/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center - Cleveland, OH
Natalie Genova UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Akash Guruswamy Methodist Hospital - Houston, TX
Neha Gutta University of South Florida Morsani - Tampa, FL
Farhan Hassan Southern Illinois University - Springfield, IL
Dalton Hermanson University of Kansas - Kansas City, KS
Brian Ingberg University of Texas Southwestern - Dallas, TX
Amina Islam Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Elizabeth Kaji Mercyhealth GME Consortium - Rockford, IL
Sneha Kumar Rosalind Franklin University - McHenry, IL
Sameer Lalani HCA Medical City Healthcare - Arlington, TX
Nina Maitra University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ
Suman Manek Loyola University Medical Center - Maywood, IL
Harib Mian Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Rishith Kumar Mishra Indiana University - Indianapolis, IN
Harshavardhan Nalam University of Iowa - Iowa City, IA
Tucker Nicholson HCA Healthcare - Overland Park, KS
Keya Panchal Loyola University Medical Center - Maywood, IL
Adeesh Parvathaneni Tulane University - New Orleans, LA
Hersh Patel Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Rida Qazi Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Nikhila Singu University of Florida - Gainesville, FL
Satya Sivasankar Prime South Consortium/St. Joseph Medical Center - Kansas City, MO
Esther Varghese Thomas Hospital - Fairhope, AL INTERNAL MEDICINE/EMERGENCY MEDICINE Regan Miller University of Illinois - Chicago, IL
INTERNAL MEDICINE/PEDIATRICS Divya Minnaganti Indiana University - Indianapolis, IN
Abigail Phillips UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Neha Potta Indiana University - Indianapolis, IN INTERNAL MEDICINE PRELIMINARY YEAR Dean Adkins Marshall University - Huntington, WV
Shiva Balasubramanian University of Louisville - Louisville, KY
Sarah Jacober University of Kansas - Kansas City, KS
Sandra Jaroonwanichkul Richmond University Medical Center - Staten Island, NY
Anika Pulumati University of South Florida Morsani - Tampa, FL
David Morcos Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO INTERNAL MEDICINE/PSYCHIATRY Levi Holtzman Charleston Area Medical Center - Charleston, WV INTERN YEAR FLIGHT SURGERY Adeesh Mishra Naval Medical Center Portsmouth - Portsmouth, VA INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY Eric Errampalli University of Illinois - Chicago, IL
Mira Chetan Malavia Stanford Health Care - Stanford, CA NEUROLOGY Anand Haran University of Illinois - Chicago, IL
Olivia Liu UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Muskan Rawoot Henry Ford Hospital - Detroit, MI OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY Marlena Lily Ebbesmeyer UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Anna Ilivicky University of Kansas - Kansas City, KS
Ella Kinder UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Sofia Laux Mercy Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Noelle Matese HCA Florida Brandon Hospital - Brandon, FL
Hannah Suffian Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Priya Suvarna St. Louis University Hospital - St. Louis, MO OPHTHALMOLOGY Sarah Jacober University of Kansas - Kansas City, KS
David Morcos Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY Dakota McKenzie UMKC - Kansas City, MO PATHOLOGY Alexander Benton Cleveland Clinic - Cleveland, OH
Lizzy Kruse McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University - Chicago, IL PEDIATRICS Charity Dunlop Children’s Mercy - Kansas City, MO
Sahrish Mirjat Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center - Cincinnati, OH
Audrey Otwell Northwestern University/Lurie Children’s Hospital - Chicago, IL
Laura Richardson University of Texas Southwestern - Dallas, TX
Lauren Vaughn Children’s Mercy - Kansas City, MO
Madhumathi Vijayalingam University of California, Los Angeles - Los Angeles, CA
Olivia Voelker University of Kentucky Medical Center - Lexington, KY PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION Jang-Ai Rebecca Lin Loma Linda University - Loma Linda, CA
Kyle Mellor University of Nebraska Medical Center - Omaha, NE PSYCHIATRY Cyrus Abbaszadeh Creighton University - Omaha, NE
Hafsah Ali St. Louis University Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Seth Baligod UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Caleb Feuerbacher University of Utah Health - Salt Lake City, UT
Caitlin Kogulan UMKC - Kansas City, MO
James Meade UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Evelyn Peng UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Siri Ragala UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Kyle Ta UMKC - Kansas City, MO
Michael Vierra Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Lexi Young University of Colorado - Aurora, CO SURGERY PRELIMINARY YEAR Arjun Gampala Rush University - Chicago, IL
Olivia Lyon University of Colorado – Denver, CO
Mira Chetan Malavia Stanford Health Care - Stanford, CA
Amber Sun Sunrise Health GME Consortium - Las Vegas, NV TRANSITIONAL YEAR Eric Errampalli Trinity Health - Grand Rapids, MI
Bianca Ituarte Henry Ford Hospital - Detroit, MI
Victoria Shi Emory University - Atlanta, GA
Jacob Tribble Barnes-Jewish Hospital - St. Louis, MO
Conner Verhulst University of Kentucky Medical Center - Bowling Green, KY
Felix Yang St. Agnes Medical Center - Fresno, CA