Casey deDeugd added two titles to her name on Friday \u2013 M.D. and United States Air Force Captain — as she graduated in the second class of UCF College of Medicine-trained physicians.<\/p>\n
Minutes after receiving her diploma, she replaced her robe with her military uniform and was sworn in by associate professor Dr. Jose Borrero, himself an Air Force veteran. As she left the stage, Casey received a salute from junior medical school officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means so much,\u201d she said of the military honor incorporated into commencement. \u201cWhen I came to the steps and saw them saluting, it was the first time I teared up at graduation. I was so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeDeugd is the first graduate of the medical school\u2019s Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), where students serve a year of active military service in exchange for each year of full scholarship funding. The College of Medicine has students in all branches of the military \u2013 Army, Navy and Air Force — and many of the officers are women.<\/p>\n
Dr. Borrero will retire from teaching this month and said giving Casey her captain\u2019s bars was \u201ca deserving recognition for her and an honor for me.\u201d A former flight surgeon, Dr. Borrero was on stage as Casey processed into the Venue with other graduates for commencement. \u201cI looked down and saw her walk in,\u201d he said. \u201cShe looked straight, she looked sharp. That\u2019s the way it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
During her orthopedics rotation last summer, Casey worked at the Center for the Intrepid at San Antonio Military Medical Center, a research and treatment facility for war veterans with limb amputations. In June, she begins her residency training in orthopedic surgery at the renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She\u2019ll complete her military service after that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe military values hard work and being disciplined and those are values I\u2019ve tried to emulate since I was a child,\u201d she said after graduation. \u201cToday I was double excited to graduate with my M.D. degree and celebrate that with my military family.\u201d<\/p>\n
To view a video version of this story, please visit\u00a0 http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6j2TIXQkFCI<\/p>\n
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