{"id":142652,"date":"2024-08-13T12:06:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T16:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=142652"},"modified":"2025-03-12T12:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T16:58:09","slug":"ucf-welcomes-m-d-class-of-2028","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-welcomes-m-d-class-of-2028\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Welcomes M.D. Class of 2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before med school, Calvin MacDonald helped create 3D-printed bionic arms for children. Natalie Marshall hopes to become her family\u2019s fifth generation physician, and in honor of that goal, came to the College of Medicine<\/a> White Coat Ceremony with her late grandfather\u2019s embroidered doctor\u2019s coat. Both were among 120 M.D. students in the class of 2028 who were coated Monday in recognition that they are now colleagues in healthcare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new physicians-in-training include artists, engineers, athletes and crisis counselors. More than 80% did medical research before entering medical school. They received undergraduate degrees from BYU, Emory, John\u2019s Hopkins, Ohio State, Rice and Vanderbilt. Thirty of them are UCF alumni.<\/p>\n

MacDonald is one of those Knights. He worked with children at Limbitless Solutions, an organization based at UCF that specializes in accessibility technology including bionics for children missing limbs. He says he has always wanted to become a doctor and that his work with children taught him patience, understanding and the ability to communicate with those he will care for in the future.<\/p>\n

Innovation and discovery are the core of Limbitless\u2019 work and both topics were themes of this year\u2019s White Coat Ceremony. UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright told students of their opportunity to learn at the university\u2019s biosciences cluster minutes from one of the world\u2019s most visited airports.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour new home at UCF\u2019s Academic Health Sciences Center<\/a> will embed you in health education, research<\/a> and clinical practice \u2014 right in the heart of Orlando\u2019s Medical City at Lake Nona,\u201d he says. \u201cAt UCF, we turn our excellence into impact, and we boldly innovate where others would never dare. You will have that opportunity to innovate and to transform diagnostics, treatments and therapies to drive health outcomes<\/a> for your patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and founding dean of UCF\u2019s College of Medicine, told students they are joining an innovative, research-based medical school supported by physicians, scientists, clinics and hospitals across Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents, today you become part of this community, part of a pioneering, young medical school committed to preparing doctors to face today\u2019s healthcare challenges by putting their patients first,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

That community includes donors like Mark Trolice, founder and medical director of the IVF Center, whose gift paid for all of the students\u2019 white coats. The College of Medicine\u2019s White Coat and Stethoscope campaign raised more than $53,000 this year \u2014 the most ever \u2014 from donations that included parents, faculty and staff.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s ceremony included the students\u2019 first class in medical school: The Good Doctor \u2013 A UCF Tradition<\/em>. In it, German asks students to imagine the person they love most in the world is seriously ill with an undiagnosed condition. She asks them to describe the attributes of the physician they would want caring for their loved one. As students suggest a trait, German writes the word on a blackboard that stays on display at the medical school all year.<\/p>\n

This year students came up with 35 words including passionate<\/em>, reliable<\/em>, courageous<\/em>, resilient<\/em>, knowledgeable<\/em>, ethical<\/em>, curious <\/em>and accountable.<\/em> When a student suggested humble<\/em>, German responded, \u201cThat means it\u2019s not about us, it\u2019s about the patient.\u201d When another suggested caring<\/em>, their dean replied, \u201cPatients don\u2019t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marshall liked the word leader<\/em> and said it described her grandfather, Manuel Torres, perfectly. He immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba and served patients as an anesthesiologist in South Florida for 50 years. He passed away last year before knowing where his granddaughter would attend medical school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to follow in my family\u2019s footsteps,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Joseph Helmy\u2019s favorite word on The Good Doctor <\/em>board was humble <\/em>because he says a physician needs to think about others first. Family and friends traveled from Helmy\u2019s home state of Tennessee to join him at the ceremony, and took turns hugging, back slapping and fist-pumping the new UCF physician-in-training as he wore his new white coat. Nearby stood Father Karas, Helmy\u2019s Coptic Orthodox priest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made the trip,\u201d Father Karas says. \u201cI had to come. Joseph is such a good person, my spiritual son.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UCF welcomed its 16th class of medical students Monday \u2014 a robust group that includes artists, athletes, engineers and crisis counselors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":142653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,12,17],"tags":[19309,979,1238,22543],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-142652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-health","category-medicine","tag-alexander-cartwright","tag-college-of-medicine","tag-deborah-german","tag-healthcare"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Welcomes M.D. Class of 2028 | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UCF welcomed its 16th class of medical students Monday \u2014 a robust group that includes artists, athletes, engineers and crisis counselors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-welcomes-m-d-class-of-2028\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Welcomes M.D. Class of 2028\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UCF welcomed its 16th class of medical students Monday \u2014 a robust group that includes artists, athletes, engineers and crisis counselors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-welcomes-m-d-class-of-2028\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-13T16:06:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-12T16:58:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/08\/White-Coat-2028-UCF-COM.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Juzanne Martin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Juzanne Martin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-welcomes-m-d-class-of-2028\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-welcomes-m-d-class-of-2028\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Juzanne Martin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/85cf3bab26b268af0b080375c968e4c7\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Welcomes M.D. Class of 2028\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-13T16:06:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-12T16:58:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-welcomes-m-d-class-of-2028\/\"},\"wordCount\":703,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-welcomes-m-d-class-of-2028\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/08\/White-Coat-2028-UCF-COM.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alexander N. 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