FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30 , 2006

UCSF FRESNO GRADUATES CLASS OF 2006
Two Valley natives among those staying to treat patients and teach

FRESNO – The UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program will graduate more than 60 resident physicians in a ceremony to be held Thursday, June 8, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at Copper River Country Club ( 11500 North Friant Road) in Fresno.

Several of the doctors in the class of 2006 will remain in the Fresno vicinity and the San Joaquin Valley to care for area residents. A total of six graduates will be staying to join the UCSF Fresno faculty or serve as chief residents during the 2006-07 academic year.

Among them:

• Cyrus Buhari, DO, of Stockton, will be a chief resident in internal medicine.
• Born and raised in Fresno, Saleen Manternach, MD, will join the UCSF Fresno faculty in emergency medicine as well as practice at Kaiser Permanente.

“I am joining the faculty and practicing in Fresno because I believe in UCSF Fresno’s mission of training doctors who will stay to serve the Valley,” said Manternach. “This is where my family is and I want to give back to the community.

“I feel very fortunate to have gone through this program,” she added.

“I’m looking forward to teaching other residents and continuing my research,” said Buhari, who is developing an epidemiological study of diabetes and obesity in Fresno adolescents. “I also enjoy taking care of our veterans.”

Graduation highlights include:

• Graduation address by Joan Voris, MD, Associate Dean, UCSF Fresno
• Presentation of the prestigious 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 awards include: Outstanding First-Year Resident, Outstanding Resident Teacher, Outstanding Attending Teacher, Outstanding Non-Physician Teacher, Borba Award for Outstanding Research, and the Dizon Community Service Award.

UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program plays a substantial role in providing health care services to San Joaquin Valley residents and training medical professionals in the region. UCSF Fresno has trained one-third of Valley physicians currently practicing in one of the seven specialties in which UCSF Fresno provides training. UCSF Fresno, which celebrated its 30 th anniversary last year, has graduated approximately 60 physicians every year, totaling more than 2,000 to date. UCSF Fresno faculty and medical residents care for the overwhelming majority of the area’s underserved populations. In addition, UCSF Fresno educates about 200 medical students each year as well as provides academic preparation programs for middle- and high-school students interested in the health professions.

For more information about the UCSF Fresno graduation ceremony, please call (559) 499-6520.

Newsroom