*The 3-year first-time residency attainment rate is the weighted average of the 2022-23, through 2024-25 academic years. For each year, the rate is the percent of students attaining a residency out of all graduates or expected graduates in the year who were active applicants in the NRMP match in that year or who attained a residency outside the NRMP match in that year. The 1-year first-time residency attainment rate is 95% for 2024-2025 graduates.
Familiar Faces: Grads Return to Hometowns to Practice
Many physicians dream of coming home after medical school to serve the communities where they grew up. These are just a few AUC grads who are putting that dream into practice.
Many physicians dream of coming home after medical school to serve the communities where they grew up. These are just a few AUC grads who are putting that dream into practice.
Carlos Dator, MD ‘11
Oswego, NY
Dr. Dator first returned to his hometown in 2015 as a hospitalist at Oswego Hospital, after completing his family medicine residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, NY. Last year, he was named Medical Director of the hospital’s Center for Wound Healing, having taken specialized wound care training at Healogics University that enables him to treat hard-to-heal wounds and deliver hyperbaric medicine care.
A graduate of Oswego High School and Loyola College, Dr. Dator was inspired to pursue medicine by his parents, who are both local physicians as well. He even had the opportunity to work with his father as a senior in high school, through an enrichment program that allowed high school students to learn about healthcare careers with hands-on experience in the hospital.
Stephanie Marzola, MD ‘14
Lakeland, FL
Dr. Marzola is back practicing family medicine in the city where she was born and raised: Lakeland, Florida. As of September, Dr. Marzola is treating patients at BayCare Medical Group in Lakeland.
She received her undergraduate degree in biology from Florida Southern College and graduated from AUC in 2014. Dr. Marzola then completed her family medicine residency at Shenandoah Valley in Virginia before returning to Lakeland to practice last month.
Daran Mason, MD ‘03
Crestview, FL
Crestview High School graduate Dr. Mason returned to his Florida hometown this past summer. Within the first week of opening his office, Dr. Mason, a robotic surgeon, had familiar faces in the community stopping by to say hello and welcome him back. After graduating from AUC, he had moved to Mobile, AL to complete his general surgery residency at the University of South Alabama.
“It’s exciting to be able to see some people and communicate with them on a different level of more familiarity other than just helping them with their medical problems,” he said.
Andrew Rahaman, MD ‘13
Uvalde, TX
Dr. Rahaman began seeing patients at Uvalde Family Practice Association in Texas this past August, in the town he’s called home for the better part of three decades. "This city, along with many friends and family here, have helped me get where I am today,” Dr. Rahaman said. “It's now time to give back to what gave to me.”
A board-certified family physician, Dr. Rahaman graduated in 2007 from Texas A& M University with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science. After graduating in 2014, he completed his family medicine residency at CHRISTUS Spohn in Corpus Christi.
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