CLASS OF 2025Saturday, July 24, 2021

White CoatC E R E M O N Y

Order of ProgramWelcome and Introduction to Ceremony

Leonel Vela, M.D., M.P.H.Senior Associate Dean for Education Resources

Chair, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine

Student ProcessionalClass of 2025

National AnthemUTRGV Music Student

Presentation of Platform GuestsLeonel Vela, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Associate Dean for Education Resources Chair, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine

School of Medicine Dean’s AddressMichael B. Hocker, M.D., M.H.S.

Dean, UTRGV School of Medicine

Welcome Message on behalf of FacultyRobert Nelson, Jr., M.D., M.S., F.A.A.P.Senior Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs

Chair, Department of Pediatrics

Presentation of Keynote SpeakerMichael B. Hocker, M.D., M.H.S.

Dean, UTRGV School of Medicine

Keynote SpeakerJulie A. Freischlag, M.D., F.A.C.S, FRCSEd(Hon), D.F.S.V.S.

Chief Executive Officer, Wake Forest Baptist HealthDean, Wake Forest School of Medicine

Chief Academic Officer, Atrium Health Enterprise

Order of Program

Presentation of Students and Cloaking of White CoatsMichael B. Hocker, M.D., M.H.S.

Dean, UTRGV School of Medicine

Recitation of Profession of ValuesLed by Class of 2025 Representative

Closing Remarks and InstructionsLeonel Vela, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Associate Dean for Education Resources Chair, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine

Student RecessionalClass of 2025

Prerecorded Processional and Recessional Music by:UTRGV Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Saul Torres, Lecturer III.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine gratefully acknowledges the Arnold P. Gold Foundation for its ongoing

support and guidance of this White Coat Ceremony. The Arnold P. Gold Foundation has generously provided each medical student in the

Class of 2025 with a “Humanism in Medicine” label pin.

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s mission is to perpetuate the tradition of the caring doctor by emphasizing the importance of the relationship

between the practitioner and the patient.

Its objective is to help physicians-in-training become doctors whom combine the high-tech skills of cutting-edge medicine with the high-touch skills of effective communication, empathy, and compassion.

(Modern Version)

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s

knife or the chemist’s drug.

I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in

matters of life and death. This awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic

stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure. I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special

obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind andbody as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the

finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

(Adapted from The Modem Hippocratic Oath written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, former Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University.)

Hippocratic Oath

Ryan AjgaonkarAustin, TX

Toluwani AkinpeluSugar Land, TX

Lois Akpati Houston, TX

Anthony AlanisLeague City, TX

Taha Alhassan Mission, TX

Elizabeth AlthausDallas, TX

Shuaibahmed ArabParker, TX

Sunil Athyala San Antonio, TX

Courtney Austin Dallas, TX

Santiago Balderas Edinburg, TX

Muhammad Bangash Brownsville, TX

Ryan BialaszewskiBrocton, NY

Cameron Caldwell Aledo, TX

Manny Campos Los Fresnos, TX

Pamela Campos San Juan, TX

Aaron CarrilloMcAllen, TX

Lesley Chapa San Juan, TX

Carlos CisnerosBrownsville, TX

Patrick CostelloUpper Arlington, OH

Aaron DadzieSan Antonio, TX

Hari DasSpring, TX

Philippe Dentino Houston, TX

Felipe DiazBrownsville, TX

Uchechi EhiemuaEkpoma, Nigeria

Alexandra ElizondoSan Antonio, TX

Kelsey EndariBeaumont, TX

Osiel EscobedoMcAllen, TX

Jessica FloresPortland, OR

Elio Garcia SosaBrownsville, TX

Yazeth Gonzalez McAllen, TX

Lucinda Hinojosa Brownsville, TX

Victoria JacobsenThe Woodlands, TX

School of Medicine

Andrew KolodziejFriendswood, TX

Adeeb MinhajHouston, TX

Hermione MonieMission, TX

Fabian Mota Odessa, TX

Joshua Ninan Katy, TX

Stephen OdunsiAustin, TX

Kennedy OlsonTrophy Club, TX

Onyedikachi OsajiCoppell, TX

Samuel Owusu-MirekuSuhum, Ghana

Jiye ParkPhiladelphia, PA

Isaac PerezEdinburg, TX

Michelle PhamPearland, TX

Anh PhungHo Chi Minh, Vietnam

Calvin RamirezMercedes, TX

William ReckleyMcAllen, TX

Alejandro Rincon Edinburg, TX

Michael Roa Brownsville, TX

Cristian SaenzPharr, TX

Nura SalhadarBrownsville, TX

Mia SchmolzeAustin, TX

Sidney Selva San Antonio, TX

Rozena Shirvani-AraniEdinburg, TX

Sridhar SrinivasanPlano, TX

Asma SyedSan Antonio, TX

Abeer Toma Arlington, TX

Hector Trejo Edinburg, TX

Alisha ValdezLa Feria, TX

Klarissa Vega CunninghamMission, TX

Delilah WahidEdinburg, TX

Chase WatsonShepherd, TX

Amanda Wheeler Boerne, TX

Alexa ZarateBrownsville, TX

Class of 2025