LIFELONG DREAM

Cristina Fernandez spent years preparing for medical school. This semester, it became a challenging and rewarding reality.

Story by Dale Greer, photos by Tom Fougerousse

The School of Medicine welcomed its brightest and most accomplished class this semester when 148 students attended the annual White Coat Ceremony on campus Aug. 5.

The event -- a traditional rite of passage in which school administrators place white coats on incoming medical students -- marked the beginning of a "remarkable personal and professional journey that will bring the students a lifetime of joy and fulfillment," says Toni Ganzel, M.D., senior associate dean for students and academic affairs in the School of Medicine.

For at least one student, it also marked the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

First-year medical student Cristina Fernandez says UofL offers "just the kind of experience I was looking for in medical school."

"I've wanted to go into medicine since I was in the second grade," says first-year medical student Cristina Fernandez.

"When other kids were playing with mud pies in their back yards, I was using mud to concoct medicines and pretending they were new treatments for my patients. Every poem and essay I ever wrote -- they were always about how I wanted to be a doctor, and all my coursework in high school and college was designed to prepare me for medical school.

"So when I finally had that coat placed on me during the ceremony, it was as if the culmination of my entire life had been directed toward this one moment, of being in medical school. That coat signaled an end to all my preparation, and of course the beginning of something even more challenging: four years as a medical student."