The medical students of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Class of 2021 officially became doctors in a socially distant ceremony at the Mahaffey Theatre, St. Petersburg, Fla., May 7.

Graduation may have looked a little different this year.  But the end of the four-year medical school journey was just as gratifying for the Class of 2021 USF Health Morsani College of Medicine medical students.  As the world continues to recover from a pandemic, 173 of the country’s newest doctors graduated in a socially distanced ceremony at the Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg, Fla. May 7.

The ceremony wasn’t filled with the typical pomp and circumstance and VIPS that have become synonymous with MCOM ceremonies.  And friends, families and loved ones watched the ceremony outside of the theater or via live stream through MCOM and USF Health social media channels, rather than fill theater seats for in-person views .  COVID-19 has undoubtedly changed the way of the world and emphasized the more vital role innovative doctors will play in the effort to heal the world.

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, USF Health senior vice president and MCOM dean.

“COVID-19 has underscored that in the 21^st century, health is global not local; dynamic not static; and that medical knowledge is accelerating at an unimaginable rate. Health care will never be the same,” said USF Health senior vice president and MCOM dean, Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, during his remarks to the class. “While I do not want to dwell on the challenges presented by COVID-19, I do want to recognize your remarkable determination in overcoming those challenges. Your resilience has paid off, and I speak for all of USF Health when I say that we could not be prouder of you.”

Jasmina Ehab, MD, selected by her fellow class of 2021 graduates to deliver remarks, also acknowledged the resilience and compassion of her classmates.  She recalled when Hurricane Irma shut down the state of Florida when they were only a couple of months into their first year of medial school.  It was through those trying times the class of 2021 grew stronger together.

Jasmina Ehab, MD, was chosen by her fellow graduates to deliver a speech to her fellow classmates.

“Although we didn’t know each other well, all of us opened our homes to one another. We shared our food; we shared our resources. Many of us stayed with each other’s families in other states. Not only did we exhibit this sense of family early on, but this experience was the landscape for our relationships, moving forward. We became each other’s keepers, we relied on one another and from that point on we knew that we were always going to be there to help each other,” she said.  “I have never been prouder of us as a class than when we held each other, supported one another and cried with each other. When one of us hurts, we all hurt. That’s what makes us unique, that’s why we have this unbreakable bond, this is what makes us family.”

Steven Currall, PhD, University of South Florida System President.

The most important, and most welcomed remarks came from University of South Florida System President, Steven Currall, PhD. His words were few, but impactful ending with “I confer upon each of you the doctor of medicine degree,” officially marking the transition from student to doctor.

The impact of graduating from medical school in the wake of uncertain and trying circumstances was not lost on the class.  One graduate described his fellow graduates and their journey with one word: resilient.   The Class of 2021 will use resilience as they move on to residency this summer.

More images from the ceremony:

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, USF Health senior Vice President and MCOM dean, presented the 2021 Dean’s Award to recently retired Tom Whalen, MD. Dr. Whalen served as executive Vice President and chief medical officer at the Lehigh Valley Health Network in Penn. He has played an instrumental role in strengthening the ties between USF Health and LVHN.

Mathia Nittmann, MD, Class of 2021 recipient of the Donn L. Smith Award.

Timothy Koo, MD, Class of 2021 recipient of the Morsani College of Medicine Dean’s Award.

Karim Hanna, MD, chosen by the class to deliver the charge to the class. Dr. Hannah is also a Class of 2014 MCOM alum.

Pre-ceremony celebration:

Post-ceremony excitement:

Photos and story by Fredrick J. Coleman.  Video by Allison Long. 

USF recently held a big meeting about exploring the very small.

In November, the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy hosted the 12^th annual NanoFlorida International Conference on the USF campus.  The three-day conference, which included keynote addresses by USF President Steven Currall and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, was centered around future developments in the field of nanotechnology.

Participants pose for a group photo during the NanoFlorida International Conference.

“Nanotechnology is to work in the smallest scale possible, called nanoscale,” explained USF Health professor Shyam Mohapatra, PhD, director of the Center for Education and Research in Nanobioengineering and conference chair of the International Academy of Nanotechnology.

For comparison, one nanometer is one-millionth the diameter of single strand of human hair, Dr. Mohapatra said.

USF President Steven Currall gave a keynote address during the NanoFlorida International Conference in the Marshall Center on USF campus.

Nanotechnology is being studied in a wide range of sciences, including chemistry, engineering and medicine. The technology is already being used in many industries and products people use every day. For example, nanotechnology has helped reduce the size of cell phones from the unwieldy devices of yesteryear to the advanced computers that now fit in your pocket.

But it’s not just consumer goods where nanotechnology is making a difference. USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy is looking at how the technology can help better deliver medication to patients.

“The whole notion of pharmaceutical nanotechnology is to take a molecule and make it even smaller so we can deliver (medicines) into parts of the body that normally we can’t get into,” said Kevin Sneed, PharmD, FNAP, FNPHA. Dr. Sneed is senior associate vice president, USF Health and dean of the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy.

Kevin Sneed, PharmD, FNAP, FNPHA, talks to dignitaries during the NanoFlorida International Conference. Dr. Sneed is senior associate vice president, USF Health and dean of the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy.

For instance, researchers are studying how nanotechnology can assist the treatment of brain cancers and brain disorders.

“Lots of medications cannot get into the brain when taken orally or otherwise,” Dr. Sneed said, “By making them smaller, now we can transport them into the brain.”

The Taneja College of Pharmacy is embracing pharmaceutical nanotechnology by offering a master’s in science degree in pharmaceutical nanotechnology – the first such degree in the state of Florida.

“We had an opportunity to build a pharmaceutical or drug delivery program,” Dr. Sneed said. “Nanotechnology was very futuristic, and we wanted to be a very futuristic, very innovative, very transformative pharmacy program.”

About 50 students are currently enrolled in the pharmaceutical nanotechnology degree program.

Shyam Mohapatra, Distinguished USF Health Professor, Director of Center for Education and Research in Nanobioengineering in the Morsani College of Medicine and Associate Dean Graduate Program in the Tanjea College of Pharmacy and Conference Chair of the International Academy of Nanotechnology, opens the NanoFlorida International Conference.

During the NanoFlorida International Conference, participants attended a number of plenary sessions discussing advances in nanotechnology and its use, and students from USF and other major colleges presented 138 research posters for judging.

Sonali Kannaujia (left) and Liguan Li, a graduate student and a PhD candidate both studying electrical engineering, look at their poster presentation before the start of judging during the NanoFlorida International Conference. The USF students created a Wireless Interrogated MEMS Capacitive Intraocular Pressure Sensors to help with the treatment of Glaucoma.

The NanoFlorida International Conference is organized by the Florida Association for Nanotechnology, a society composed of basic and translational nano-bio technologists who use a variety of nanoscale sciences and technologies to better understand the way the nano-bio systems function.

Video, photos and article by Allison Long, USF Health Communications & Marketing