Meet the Class of 2029!

On the first day of orientation, our students enjoyed a welcome breakfast with the deans. The rest of the day involved getting acclimated to the environment and one another. Over the next few days, the students attended presentations ranging from diversity, equity and inclusion to oath writing. They ended orientation week by taking part in the White Coat Ceremony.

Here are some facts about our new students:

• Where they call home: Most of the incoming class hail from the East Coast, West Coast and Midwest. Four students are from the South, two are from Texas, and one is from Nigeria.
• Undergraduate majors: While most students majored in biology, three students majored in nontraditional areas: computer science, music and business management with a concentration in healthcare.
• Research: The students conducted 69,852 cumulative research hours prior to applying. The vast majority (84%) took a gap year before applying.
• Education: Four students have already earned master’s degrees.
• Teaching: Many have served as tutors or teaching assistants during college. One student volunteered at a school for children with learning disabilities, and another taught English to mostly Syrian refugees through an organization called Paper Airplanes.
• Entrepreneurial spirit: One student owns a small business that focusses on creating and promoting educational resources on neurodiversity. Another student used to run a pastry business while in college.
• Serving others: Many of the new students volunteered their time to help at crisis hotlines, hospitals, free clinics, and homeless and domestic violence shelters. One student volunteered with non-profits to help develop sustainable water systems in Honduras and to support survivors of human trafficking.
• Innovation: One student crocheted a 3D microscope using a technique called amigurumi, and another developed a computational model of human heart cells to predict patient atrial arrhythmias.
• Fun facts: One student translates Russian poetry into English, and another spent two weeks in Portugal studying with a Russian cellist. One student was a software engineer for several years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and another accidentally met the Pope during a recent trip to Vatican City.

Please join us in welcoming this outstanding group of students to the Lerner College of Medicine!