FRESNO – The UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program will graduate 85 medical residents and fellows in a ceremony to be held Thursday, June 9, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the William Saroyan Theatre (700 M Street) in Fresno. A social hour for the graduating fellows and resident physicians, their families and friends and UCSF Fresno faculty and staff members will precede the ceremony, at 5:30 p.m.
Thirty-six percent of the graduates are expected to stay and care for patients in the Fresno area and the Central San Joaquin Valley.
Among them:
- Richard Kiel, MD, grew up in Coarsegold and graduated from Yosemite High School and California State University, Fresno. Dr. Kiel will be staying at UCSF Fresno as a chief resident in internal medicine. He has also applied to the UCSF Fresno Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship.
- Zacharia Reagle, DO, grew up in coastal Alaska and worked as a paramedic for a number of years prior to becoming a physician. He conducted a rotation at UCSF Fresno as a medical student and returned to complete his residency training. Dr. Reagle will be staying at UCSF Fresno as a chief resident in internal medicine and plans to pursue fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine, also at UCSF Fresno.
- Eric Wilson, MD, attended Kastner Middle School and graduated from Clovis West High School. After Dr. Wilson completes a one-year fellowship in sports medicine at UCLA, he plans to return to Fresno to practice primary care sports medicine.
“Congratulations and best wishes to all of the graduating medical residents and fellows,” said Joan Voris, MD, associate dean at UCSF Fresno. “I wish them continued success in their careers.”
“The more training opportunities UCSF Fresno is able to provide, the better positioned we are to retain physicians throughout their training and beyond,” she added. “I am pleased to say that UCSF Fresno now encompasses eight medical residency programs and 12 fellowships. Expansion of our program is good news for patients, too, as we offer more advanced treatments and subspecialty care.”
Graduation highlights include:
- Welcome remarks by Joan Voris, MD, Associate Dean, UCSF Fresno
- Graduation address by Kathryn Bilello, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF Fresno and recipient of the 2010 Henry J. Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Presentation of the prestigious 2011 Kaiser Award for Excellence in Teaching. Of the four Kaiser awards presented by the UCSF School of Medicine, one is given to an outstanding faculty member in the Fresno program.
- Other honors include: Outstanding First-Year Resident, Outstanding Resident Teacher, Outstanding Attending Teacher, Outstanding Non-Physician Teacher, Borba Award for Outstanding Research, the UCSF Fresno Community Service Award, the Global Health Curriculum Award, Excellence in Physician Values Award and the newly established Leon S. Peters Foundation Resident Award.
For more information about the UCSF Fresno graduation ceremony, please call (559) 499-6518.
