The following is a joint statement from Upi Singh, MD, Chair and DEO of the Department of Internal Medicine, and Manish Suneja, MD, Vice Chair for Education and Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program.
It is with great pleasure that we introduce you to the incoming class of interns for the 2026-27 academic year. We are so proud and excited to welcome and congratulate this newest group of medical students to the Internal Medicine at Iowa family. They will soon cross a border many of them have dreamed about since their teenage years. There have been many milestones before this—high school graduation, undergraduate admission, med school interviews and acceptances, and so, so many examinations—but this graduation will mark a line between “before” and “after.” Now, they will enter the most exciting phase of their careers, steadily putting into practice all they have trained to do. We are honored to stand beside them as they take their first steps as physicians.
Later this year, as we do every year, we will introduce you to each of them and why they chose to come to Iowa, but over the years we have come to spot some common themes about what recruits find so attractive about our program, our town, and University of Iowa Health Care. Again and again, they tell us, it is our people. Each of you. The keyhole view they get of Iowa is widest on their interview day, and no one has a bigger impact on how well that day goes than our fabulous administrative team. So deepest thanks and recognitions are due to Cindy Batzkiel, Abbey Gilpin, Denise Floerchinger, and Stacy Sueppel. You four work all year long to make our training programs run smoothly, and your consistent and confident wisdom sends an undeniable message that Iowa will treat each new member as an individual with unique needs.
Special thanks are also due to our outstanding Chief Residents and the members of our Education Leadership team. Besides managing the day-to-day operations and education of our current members, a significant portion of their time is continuously spent focused on recruiting our next members. Today they celebrate, but tomorrow they are right back to work ensuring the interns of 2027 find a program just as innovative and just as focused as the program that this year’s class found.
Who are these newest recruits? This year’s class of interns includes 34 physicians, including 9 preliminary trainees (with 6 Internal Medicine–Ophthalmology preliminary trainees). This group also includes 2 combined Medicine-Psychiatry residents and 3 physician-scientist trainees. They come to us from 21 medical schools across 17 states, including 9 graduates of our own Carver College of Medicine, reflecting a diverse and accomplished cohort. And 65% (22/34) of the class identify as women. Keep an eye on our social media channels as we work to update last year’s map with our latest data on where everyone trained.
For now, please join us in welcoming the newest members of our department and congratulations to all who worked to make this year’s Match Day such a great success!