{"id":154542,"date":"2026-08-04T09:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T13:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=154542"},"modified":"2026-08-04T12:52:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:52:27","slug":"120-students-join-ucf-to-become-physician-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/120-students-join-ucf-to-become-physician-knights\/","title":{"rendered":"120 Students Join UCF to Become Physician Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pepi Dostal was inspired to enter medicine by his grandmother, a physician who cared for her village in the Czech Republic. Often paid with eggs or meat from her patients\u2019 farms, she remains the village matriarch even after retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw what she means to her community,\u201d says Dostal, who comes to UCF from the University of Washington. \u201cAnd I wanted to do the same thing for my community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dostal was one of 120 new UCF College of Medicine students who received their white coats Monday in a traditional celebration that welcomes them as partners in healthcare.<\/p>\n

Chosen from 5,422 applicants, the 120 new M.D. candidates received their undergraduate degrees from Yale, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Duke, Case Western and Emory in addition to UCF. They include scientists, artists, musicians, athletes, global volunteers and EMTs.<\/p>\n