Med students take first step in medical journey
NSU ceremony honors its first class of much-needed doctors
If you think it’s tough getting an appointment to see a doctor nowadays, just wait until 2030 when up to 40 percent of them are expected to retire and the population over 65 years of age is projected to grow by 50 percent.
Nova Southeastern University took a symbolic step toward replenishing the anticipated doctor shortage with a first-ever joint White Coat ceremony on Saturday, welcoming the first class of Doctors of Medicine and the 38th class of Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine.
The 53 M.D. and 250 D.O. students put on their traditional white lab coats for the first time and, before faculty and families in Davie, took the Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm.”
“It’s quite emotional for the student and also for their families,” said Dr. Johannes Vieweg, dean of the college of Allopathic medicine at NSU.
Iliza Minaya was among those putting on their white coats for the first time.
“This is a rite of passage for my classmates and I,” she said.
NSU President Dr. George Hanbury decided to build a new medical school because of the shortage of physicians available to deal with an aging population, chronic diseases and major changes in health care, said Vieweg.
“I think we are one of the fastest growing states,” he said. “We definitely have an influx of more patients that will overwhelm our health system.”
The 53 M.D. students will be taught in groups of seven.
“If you have a smaller class you can instruct people much, much better,” he said. “There’s a distinct advantage.”
The focus is not just on health care, but also on education and research.
Through partnerships with hospitals and private practice partners, NSU hopes its students will choose to remain in Florida when they graduate in four years.
“We specifically targeted our education to incentivize our students to stay here,” he said.
But first things first. “This is the time where everything begins,” said incoming student Piero Carletti. “We are the first charter class of NSU, this is amazing for medicine because we get to collaborate.”
The combined medical programs are expected to grow the university’s economic impact in Florida to an estimated $5 billion by 2020, NSU officials said.