Match Day 2026: CI MED Physician Innovators Chosen by Residency Programs at Top Hospitals, Clinics

The Carle Illinois College of Medicine Class of 2026 is uniquely positioned to impact health care nationwide as they embark on careers, delivering essential and specialized care to patients. Prestigious teaching hospitals – affiliates of Yale, Harvard, Mayo Clinic, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Michigan – as well as clinics and community-based hospitals serving rural populations, chose CI MED Physician Innovators to serve as resident physicians in a variety of practice settings and medical specialties.

“This year’s exciting match results demonstrate the incredible quality of our students and the unique training they receive here at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Our graduates continue to have some of the most impressive match results in the nation, getting into their top choices of highly competitive specialties at the best programs in the country,” CI MED Dean Mark Cohen said.

CI MED students secured positions in specialties such as neurosurgery, urology, dermatology, and orthopedic surgery, as well as primary care and surgical specialties. This marks the fifth straight year that students trained at the intersection of engineering, innovation, and medicine captured the attention of residency directors. Results from the National Residency Matching Program were revealed on Match Day, Friday, March 20. 

 “This success showcases why training at CI MED gives students a competitive edge over many other medical school programs and that our Physician Innovators are highly sought after by residency programs around the country. Our reputation for excellence continues to grow every year, and our graduates are creating impact wherever they go. The future of medicine is HERE at Carle Illinois!” Cohen said.

By the Numbers

Match Day is a milestone moment in medical students’ careers, as they set out to hone their skills with advanced training that lasts three to seven years, depending on the specialty.

Class of 2026 members matched into 16 different specialties in 21 different states, including several who will stay in Illinois for their residency training. The two class members will take on the dual roles of serving both patients and their country, with military matches announced in December. Students who chose to share their Residency Match results publicly are listed below, by specialty.

Competitive Specialties

This year’s MD candidates leveraged their backgrounds in science, technology, and innovation to match into sought-after and highly technical specialties. 

Megan Lim is the third CI MED woman to match into neurosurgery at Oregon Health & Sciences University. “I knew that whatever specialty or field I chose, I wanted my background in engineering and computational chemistry to play a role into innovation in that field. I started doing research with Dr. [Wael] Mostafa, and I realized neurosurgery has all the computational chemistry and innovation that I wanted,” Lim said. She says OHSU is known for its commitment to innovation, one of the key factors that attracted her. 

Three CI MED students matched into the field of dermatology, one of the most competitive specialties. Among them is Christian Guerrero-Juarez, who came to CI MED with a PhD and will take his experience and drive to the University of Michigan. “My goal is to have a career as an investigational dermatologist – I want to see patients with complex medical problems – but I also want to run a lab and hopefully make some breakthrough discoveries as well,” Guerrero-Juarez said. 

Nafisa Mostofa will specialize in anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where she will train to be the ‘pilot of the OR.’ She credits her mentors and experiences at CI MED preparing her for the opportunities open to her at Mayo and beyond. “CI MED is everything! I think, in last four years, CI MED has truly changed my life. The support I get at CI MED has been incredible,” Mostofa said.  

First Contact Care

Primary care physicians – those specializing in family medicine, pediatrics, and geriatrics – are on the front lines of treating patients at all stages of life. The opportunity to care for the youngest patients attracted one of CI MED’s standout students, Mahima Goel, who will stay in the Midwest to specialize in pediatrics. Goel was recognized with CI MED’s Excellence in Pediatrics award and earned the 2025 Fiddler Innovation Fellowship from The Grainger College of Engineering.

“Knowing that my long-term career goal is to become a pediatric oncologist, I was encouraged by all my mentors here at CI MED to leverage my background in engineering and public health to come up with solutions to gaps in childcare in a way that set me apart from other students during the residency application process. Now I'm hoping to take that interdisciplinary mindset with me to St. Louis Children’s Hospital and continue working at the intersection of technology and health care as a pediatrician!” Goel said.

Jose Beltran has a passion for serving underserved populations. He will specialize in family medicine at UCLA-affiliated Harbor, a county hospital. “It (UCLA Harbor) is a really hard program… we’re at a county hospital, so we have to work double the amount to get patients the same amount of care, and I said, ‘Yes, that’s what I want!’” He says the entrepreneurial emphasis at the University of Illinois and CI MED has given him a grounding that will help him work toward his dream of developing a free clinic for underserved populations.  

Power Couples

Award-winning medical students Anthony Wong and Priya Guduri pulled off the Match Day hat trick, matching as a couple at Rutgers in New Jersey (internal medicine for Wong, ob/gyn for Guduri). 

During their medical school careers, both Wong and Guduri have been named the Illinois Young Innovator of the Year (Wong 2025, Guduri in 2024), and Wong was one of five finalists in the prestigious American Medical Association’s Research Challenge. 

“We really have worked together a lot on engineering and innovation projects,” Guduri said. “Rutgers is a great research and institution, and we can combine everything that we’ve learned and everything that we will learn to create devices and solutions that improve the care for our patients.”

While Guduri will focus on innovation in obstetrics and gynecology, Wong want to incorporate AI and cardiology, planning to pursue a fellowship after residency that incorporates both. 

The Class of 2026 will officially graduate medical school with Convocation ceremonies on May 9, 2026.

Editor’s note: During the residency selection process, fourth-year medical students across the U.S. vie for a limited number of residency openings in specialties and hospitals offering advanced training under the supervision of experienced clinicians. A ‘match’ occurs when there’s agreement between a medical student’s preferred programs and the residency program director's list of top applicants. Results from the NRMP are revealed on Match Day when students receive formal offer letters. Students applying for residency in the military and