{"id":251492,"date":"2026-08-14T14:27:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T18:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=251492"},"modified":"2026-08-14T15:23:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T19:23:27","slug":"uconns-largest-medical-school-class-yet-dons-117-new-white-coats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/08\/uconns-largest-medical-school-class-yet-dons-117-new-white-coats\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn\u2019s Largest Medical School Class Yet Dons 117 New White Coats"},"content":{"rendered":"

UConn School of Medicine\u2019s Class of 2030 has just arrived at the UConn Health campus in Farmington, and these 117 future doctors are now wearing their brand-new white physician coats.<\/p>\n

On August 14 each of the new UConn medical students were gifted their white coat during the annual White Coat Ceremony milestone marking the exciting and symbolic start of their four-year medical school journey to become UConn-made physicians.<\/p>\n

\"SOM
Incoming UConn School of Medicine students recite the Oath of Hippocrates during their white coat ceremony in the Academic Rotunda at UConn Health on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI cannot be more proud to welcome you to your White Coat Ceremony,\u201d shared the event\u2019s host Dr. Marilyn Katz, assistant dean for Medical Student Affairs at UConn School of Medicine. \u201cThe White Coat Ceremony is synonymous with the start of medical school. From this point on you are no longer a student, you are a future physician!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Marilyn Katz on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Longtime dean of UConn School of Medicine, Dr. Bruce T. Liang, also warmly welcomed the first-year medical students, along with their family and friends in attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to UConn School of Medicine!\u201d shared Liang. \u201cYou are a physician in training now. Your patients will confide in you. Whatever you learn from your patients will always stick with you. We talk a lot about the future of AI, but I can tell you there is no substitute from what you will learn from your patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liang added, \u201cUConn is proud to be the number one producer of Connecticut\u2019s healthcare workforce, and also many scientists. Today, you embark on being a future member of the healthcare workforce. This is a calling, not just a job!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of the UConn School of Medicine, speaks during the school’s white coat ceremony on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A School of Medicine alum from the Class of 1990, Dr. David Karas, also addressed the new medical students who works as an ENT expert in New Haven. He let the UConn medical students know there was a special surprise letter cheering them on from a varied School of Medicine alum in each of their new white coats thanks to the UConn Alumni Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cI welcome all of you on what will be a really amazing experience for you. Your path to medicine has been different for all of you. Your service to humanity is really a beautiful thing! Your patients will teach you more than you will ever imagine.\u201d shared Karas.<\/p>\n

\"UConn
Class of 2030’s Gabrielle Aucello excited to join UConn and receive her white coat (UConn Photo\/Lauren Woods).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Welcome Class of 2030!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Jacob
U.S. Marine and now new UConn medical student Jacob O’Neil.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meet some of the Class of 2030\u2019s 117 medical students in the UConn School of Medicine\u2019s largest class yet, selected from 5,243 applicants, with 6 pursuing dual MD\/Ph.D. degrees, 70% are Connecticut residents, 63% are female, and 32% earned UConn undergraduate degrees.<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Marine, Jacob O\u2019Neil<\/strong>, 28, from Coventry is joining the medical student ranks at UConn School of Medicine. He was an undergraduate at UConn Storrs with dual majors in Nutritional Sciences and Spanish. He served four years with the Marines, and was deployed twice spending time in 11 countries.<\/p>\n

He now has a new uniform \u2013 a white coat.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting a white coat means the start of an incredibly long yet rewarding career, and a cumulation of years of hard work to reach this point,\u201d says O\u2019Neil. He says the first few days of medical school has been busy but, \u201cI am incredibly excited and humbled to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil chose to apply to UConn medical school due to his commitment to service, working in his home state of Connecticut, and the medical school\u2019s dedicated team- based learning style.<\/p>\n

\"Jacob
The future Dr. Jacob O’Neil putting on his white coat for the first time at UConn School of Medicine on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy biggest hope is to fulfill my potential, and become a physician that my patients can rely on,\u201d O\u2019Neil says.<\/p>\n

\"2026
The future Dr. Jacob O’Neil with his wife Ray after receiving his UConn white coat.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Incoming medical student Julius Danquah <\/strong>also has served three years in the military with the Maryland Army National Guard. He moved to the U.S. in 2013 from Kumasi, Ghana. He attended Philander Smith University in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he graduated with a degree in Biology.<\/p>\n

\u201cReceiving my white coat is a very important moment for me. It marks the start of a journey I have worked hard to pursue and represents the responsibility that comes with becoming a doctor. It will also remind me of the people who have supported and believed in me along the way,\u201d Danquah says. \u201cIt feels amazing to finally be here and know that the journey I have aimed for is now starting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Julius
Class of 2030’s Julius Danquah.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He says the experiences he gathered growing up in an underserved community in Africa, serving in the Maryland Army National Guard, and working as a research coordinator made him long for a career that could help combine service, science, and a desire to make a meaningful difference in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose UConn because of its focus on teamwork and service, and the supportive environment I felt during the admissions process. I believed UConn would be a place where I could grow both as a doctor and as a person,\u201d says Danquah. \u201cMy biggest hope is to become a doctor who makes a real difference in patients\u2019 lives and in the communities I serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn Health\u2019s own is also joining the Class of 2030 and is full of excitement and gratitude.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so excited!!! I\u2019m feeling incredibly grateful to finally be starting medical school,\u201d says former clinical research assistant II of UConn Health\u2019s New England Sickle Cell Institute turned medical student Elicia Colon, <\/strong>24, of Bloomfield. \u00a0She earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University in Cognitive Science.<\/p>\n

\"2026
Bloomfield, Connecticut’s Elicia Colon has gone from working at UConn Health to now becoming a future doctor at UConn School of Medicine (UConn Photo\/Lauren Woods).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTo me, getting my white coat is not only a symbol of all the hard work it\u2019s taken to get here, but a reminder of the journey that\u2019s to come. If there\u2019s anything I\u2019ve learned over the past few years, it\u2019s that becoming a doctor encompasses something greater than yourself,\u201d says Colon. \u201cIt\u2019s a commitment to serve others in both innovative and profound ways. But it is also a privilege. As the first doctor to come from my family, I hope to be a beacon of hope for future generations. Whether I am working in the clinic, pursuing research, or learning alongside my peers, putting on my white coat reminds me that becoming a physician is a responsibility that is earned day in and day out. For me, this is what makes this moment so meaningful \u2013 and one of the most gratifying reasons I chose to pursue an MD.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Colon, pursing medicine became clear through a combination of close family member health diagnoses and working in healthcare experiences.<\/p>\n

\"Student
Incoming UConn School of Medicine students celebrate following the white coat ceremony at UConn Health on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThese experiences gave me an early understanding of what illness can mean for patients and their families. Yet, as I gained more clinical experiences of my own – working with sickle cell, pediatric oncology, and cardiology patients – I\u2019ve come to realize that medicine is where I wanted to build my career,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Colon loved working at UConn Health\u2019s New England Sickle Cell Institute.<\/p>\n

\"2026
117 new UConn medical students are excited to now wear their white coats and begin medical school (UConn Photo\/Lauren Woods).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNot only did I learn pathophysiology from amazing hematologists, like Dr. Biree Andemariam, but I also learned a variety of other skills, like clinic workflow and teamwork dynamics, from an amazing healthcare team. I had the opportunity to work directly with sickle cell patients, ranging from native Connecticut residents to patients from Atlanta, traveling to be part of the NESCI program. I have built amazing relationships with many patients. UConn School of Medicine provides me the unique opportunity to continue my work that I started at UConn Health. Whether working in a clinic, or participating in HCOP initiatives like Doctors Academy, what a better place to develop into a physician than Connecticut, my forever home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to learn not only about medicine, but also what it means to become a physician and a health advocate for the greater Hartford community!\u201d says Colon. \u201cI\u2019m especially excited about the CLIC component of UConn SOM\u2019s curriculum because it gives us the opportunity to build these skills early on and apply them in real patient interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Leslie\u00a0Wynveen
Leslie\u00a0Wynveen is a nurse who in four years will be a UConn-made physician (UConn Photo\/Lauren Woods).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A nurse practitioner is now a new medical student at UConn. Leslie\u00a0Wynveen <\/strong>is in the Class of 2030. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing at Yale School of Nursing, her BSN from University of Evansville, and worked as a nurse in different settings for nine years.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the White Coat Ceremony marks the transition from nurse practitioner to physician. While a new career, I carry the lessons I learned from being a nurse practitioner with me as I continue learning,\u201d shares Wynveen. \u201cI\u2019m excited to start medical school and while there are of course nerves, I know I am where I am meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her decision to become a physician stemmed from watching her mentors work through complicated diagnoses and in doing so, giving patients answers and control of their health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI desired to have the knowledge and training that they possessed. I chose UConn because of the supportive faculty and mentorship. UConn\u2019s active and collaborative learning opportunities will allow me to apply medical knowledge and learn from not only faculty but also my peers,\u201d Wynveen says sharing how she is really looking forward to clinical training rotations.<\/p>\n

\"Leslie\u00a0Wynveen
Class of 2030’s Leslie\u00a0Wynveen was thrilled to spend her white coat moment with her parents (UConn Photo\/Lauren Woods).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am excited to explore all the specialties and garner as much experience and knowledge as I can throughout my time at UConn School of Medicine,\u201d Wynveen shares.<\/p>\n

Liang, dean of UConn medical school concluded at the event, \u201cCongratulations Class of 2030. And best of luck to you!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Watch the livestream replay of the 2026 White Coat Ceremony of UConn School of Medicine.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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