NYITCOM Class of 2030 Receives White Coats

The College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) welcomed the Class of 2030, a total of more than 400 aspiring osteopathic physicians (D.O.s), at its annual White Coat ceremonies in Jonesboro, Ark., and Long Island, N.Y.

Widely viewed as the official start of medical school, the annual celebrations signify the beginning of students’ medical education journey. The white coat has served as a symbol of cleanliness, trust, and healing since the late 1800s, when physicians began adopting the lab coats worn by scientists to align themselves with an increasingly scientific approach to medicine. Today, medical students wear shorter white coats while in training and don longer coats when entering the field as physicians.

At this year’s ceremonies, the incoming class prepared to fill the shoes of the Class of 2026, whose members achieved an impressive match/placement rate of 99 percent and earned residencies at esteemed institutions such as Cleveland Clinic (anesthesiology), NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center (pediatrics), and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (internal medicine), among many others. In addition, nine physicians are currently completing their residencies in branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

NYITCOM-Arkansas

NYITCOM-Arkansas welcomed 121 future physicians to Northeast Arkansas on August 1 at the medical school’s annual White Coat Ceremony at the Arkansas State University Fowler Center.

The Class of 2030 is the 11th to attend NYITCOM’s Jonesboro location, and represents 23 different states, including 26 medical students from Arkansas.

During the ceremony, NYITCOM-Arkansas Site Dean Shane Speights, D.O., emphasized the important role the incoming class will play as they carry on the medical school’s mission of helping address the physician shortage facing Arkansas and the Greater Mississippi Delta region while also serving their communities through medicine.

“As we navigate these changing and challenging times, particularly in the fields of health and medicine, the need for talented, forward-thinking and empathetic physicians is great,” Speights said. “That need is especially high in this region of the country. We have delivered on the promise of educating the next generation of physicians that can meet the demands of healthcare issues of today and tomorrow. At NYITCOM, we are more than a medical school; we are also training the next generation of physician leaders.”

Steven Lewis, M.D., NYITCOM-Arkansas associate dean of academic affairs, reminded students what the white coat represents in practice: “What patients will receive with your white coat is a wealth of knowledge, a confident skillset and most of all, a compassionate human ready to take action to help improve their situation,” he said. “To our medical students, I encourage you to wear your white coat with pride and as a reminder of the trust that patients and society place in our profession.”

As part of the program, incoming students Jaleel Balentine of Jonesboro and Olivia Manning of Monette received the fourth-annual Dr. Michael and Julie Isaacson Scholarship. The award was established in 2023 by Ritter Arnold, along with his brother Paul Arnold and sister Melissa Wren. Arnold named the scholarship in honor of his good friends, who for decades served Jonesboro through medicine—Michael as a cardiologist at NEA Baptist and his wife Julie as a nurse and nurse educator. The scholarship recipients must be from select Northeast Arkansas counties and must express a strong interest in practicing medicine in the area.

NYITCOM-Long Island

NYITCOM-Long Island’s ceremony took place on August 11 at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, N.Y.

New York Tech President Jerry Balentine, D.O., NYITCOM Dean Nicole Wadsworth, D.O., Board of Trustees Vice Chair Daniel Ferrara (D.O. ’86), and other physicians and alumni congratulated the 318 incoming students on the start of a rewarding and strenuous journey.

“Receiving your white coat is an important milestone, the beginning of a lifelong commitment to the osteopathic profession and for caring for others,” Wadsworth said. “It’s a moment of great pride, accomplishment, and promise.”

Before coating the evening’s first group of students, cardiovascular disease physician and the founder and president of Sorin Medical, Joseph A. Puma (D.O. ’85), FACC, delivered keynote remarks, reminding students that the profession they will someday enter is one that requires humanity and trust.

“The white coat itself serves as a visual reminder of humanism, professionalism, and the trust that patients place in their healthcare providers,” Puma said. “Your white coat confers credibility, education, [and] knowledge. It’s your actions that must convey empathy, dignity, and compassion.”

Several students were coated by their family members who also attended NYITCOM, including:

• Heba Ahmed, who was coated by her sister, Rehel Ahmed (B.S. ’23, D.O. ’26).
• Matthew Cerniglia, who was coated by his mother, Rose Cerniglia (D.O. ’92).
• Dillon Downs, who was coated by his father, William Downs (D.O. ’95).
• Chirag Handa, who was coated by his cousin, Tanya Kapoor-Maini (D.O. ’13).
• Jack Huang, who was coated by his sister, Pauline Huang (D.O. ’24).
• Judy Hasan-Hafez, who was coated by her brother, Omar Hasan-Hafez (D.O. ’25).
• Luke Jacob, who was coated by his father, Jesu Jacob (B.S. ’00, D.O. ’03).
• Michael Katsigiorgis, who was coated by his father, Gus Katsigiorgis (D.O. ’00).
• Avi Kushner, who was coated by his mother, Rachel Rosenfeld Kushner (D.O. ’97).
• Victor Lu, who was coated by his father, Chao Lu (D.O. ’98).
• Joanna Philip, who was coated by her mother, Jasmine Philip (D.O. ’04).
• Rebecca Sing, who was coated by her uncle, Kenneth Testa (D.O. ’95).
• Annemary Ummacheril, who was coated by her uncle, Ron Varkey (D.O. ’19).
• Nicole Zakharov, who was coated by her father, Igor Zakharov (D.O. ’01).

Students were also gifted engraved, personalized stethoscopes funded by the generosity of many NYITCOM donors, including Ferrara, who led the presentation of the gifts. NYITCOM-Long Island began this tradition in 2019, with each stethoscope serving as a vital tool throughout students’ time at medical school and as a memento that will accompany them into their professional careers, reminding them of their NYITCOM roots.

By Allison DeTurris and Casey Pearce.