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Donning of the white coat: FIU Medicine welcomes M.D. Class of 2030
Their medical education officially begins with a white coat—a simple garment with profound meaning, representing years of hard work and the journey ahead.
Surrounded by family, faculty and mentors, the newest medical students of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (FIU Medicine) donned the profession’s most recognizable symbol during the White Coat Ceremony, a milestone tradition that marks the beginning of medical school and their commitment to serving others.
“May you wear this white coat with humility, earn the trust it represents and never lose sight of the privilege of caring for others,” said Dean Juan C. Cendan, addressing the new class.
See photos from the M.D. Class of 2030 White Coat Ceremony.
For Sofia Mora, the ceremony marked a homecoming. A Miami native, she returned home after earning her bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis.
“I missed it here so much,” she said.
Inspired by her mother, a hematologist and medical oncologist at Baptist Health Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute, Mora hopes to one day care for the community that sparked her interest in medicine.
“This population is what inspired me to want to go into medicine in the first place,” she said. “I want to help the vulnerable patients of Miami. That makes me really excited.”
For many members of the Class of 2030, FIU Medicine offers the opportunity to train close to home. Of the 128 students, 95% are from Florida, 61% from South Florida. Their local ties are especially important as many doctors go on to practice where they train, and Florida faces a projected shortage of nearly 18,000 physicians by 2035.
Grace Chaffins will become a double Panther, having earned a bachelor's degree in music at FIU. She looks forward to taking this next step in her unique journey from the stage to medicine at a university that feels like home.
“I loved FIU so much,” said Chaffins. “It’s such an honor to be able to stay here.”
A trained opera singer, she plans to continue performing and using music as a creative outlet throughout medical school. Bringing her two passions together, Chaffins opened the ceremony with performances of the national anthem and FIU Alma Mater.
“It felt like a great transition,” she said of her performance. “It was a full-circle moment for me to be up there and represent my class in that way.”
Patricio Lau '09, M.D. '13, also came full circle at the ceremony. A member of FIU Medicine’s inaugural M.D. Class of 2013, Lau was the keynote speaker, welcoming the newest class with advice from his medical journey.
Lau, a pediatric surgeon and medical director of trauma at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, encouraged students to embrace every opportunity and reminded them that, even as medical students, they can make a meaningful impact on their patients’ lives.
“Your actions as a student can change the lives of your patients,” he said.
He also offered a lighter piece of advice, joking that Cuban coffee and trips to La Ventanita—a coffee shop on FIU’s main campus—might become staples of their medical school experience.
Another incoming student, Ritvik Bhattacharyya, said he was drawn to medical school at FIU because of its location in Miami and FIU Medicine’s signature service-learning program, Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP, which connects students with Miami-Dade families to better understand community health needs.
“I love the diversity that Miami offers,” he said. “It reminds me a lot of my overseas travels, so I was very grateful to come here.” Bhattacharyya was born in Maryland but spent much of his childhood abroad due to his father’s government work. His parents watched the white coat ceremony via livestream from Thailand.
Looking ahead to the years of training before them, Dr. Cendan reminded students that great physicians are defined not only by what they know, but by how they care for others.
“Hold on to curiosity, empathy and resilience,” he said. “Hold on to the desire to help others and make a difference in someone’s life. Those qualities will matter every bit as much as the knowledge and skills you’re going to learn from the textbooks.”
