The University of Maryland School of Medicine celebrated the Class of 2028 at the Annual Student Clinician Ceremony on March 3, marking their transition from the classroom into clinical rotations. Over the next two years, students will see patients alongside attending physicians within Maryland’s regional hospitals exploring the various specialties within the practice of medicine.

Gathered inside Leadership Hall donned in their white coats, rising third-year students received a wealth of advice and encouragement on the next phase of their medical training from several faculty, staff, and student speakers.

“This is probably one of the most exciting times in medicine where you move from the traditional classroom environment that you have known for much of your life to this exciting world, where every two to four weeks, you will run into a brand new discovery — everything from the chaos of delivering babies to the silence of robotic neurosurgery,” said Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, who is also the Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean.

“Remind yourself that you are never alone,” he continued. “Medicine is a team sport. You will embrace nurses and how they will help you with information, as well as the residents, the attendings. You are going to be focused on your relationships with patients, how to serve and be an effective part of a team where you contribute and provide benefit.”

Selected by the Golden Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) to be the keynote speaker, Regina Macatangay, MD, Clerkship Director and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at UMSOM, spoke of her pleasure getting to know the class of ’28 during her Practice of Medicine course:  

“I've learned a lot about your class over the past 18 months,” Dr. Macatangay said. “I learned that you show up. I learned that you are creative. I learned that you work hard. I learned that you are ready for third year.”  She also shared some rules for “surviving the wards” including having a kind heart.

“You will be taking care of patients who are vulnerable,” she said. “Remembering to give them a kind word at the beginning of the day, and at the end of the day, even if they don't give that back to you, will help you remember why you do this job and why you keep coming back day after day.”

To officially commemorate the milestone, students received gold UMSOM professionalism pins and continued the tradition of pinning each other before reciting the student clinician oath.

UMSOM Second-year medical student Kenneth Tieu, ’28, said he was looking forward to finally interacting directly with patients:

“After spending so much time in the classroom, it’s exciting to finally get onto the wards. In preclinical training we learn the science of medicine, but now we begin to see the art and nuance of it — because every patient brings a different story and experience.”

Second-year medical student Raquel Rowell, ’28, shared an important reminder with her classmates on how far they have come: “I’m really proud of all of us. Life didn’t stop just because we started medical school, yet we’re still here, strong and standing after almost 20 exams. Rotations will get hard, but remembering who we are and why we started is what will carry us through the long nights. Becoming a doctor is so close now, closer than it was two years ago — we’re almost there.”

Presenting sponsors of this year’s event included the University of Maryland Medical Alumni Association and Whiting-Turner.

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