Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine officially welcomed its 15th class Monday as a busy week of orientation kicked off for the school’s newest class.
Throughout the week, the matriculating students will get a crash course in all things OUWB as they learn about the school’s support system, details about courses they are about to take, and network with each other as well as faculty and staff.
The exciting week culminates on Friday when the new students are set to participate in the 2025 OUWB White Coat Ceremony.
“This is really exciting for us,” said Berkley Browne-Holtz, Ph.D., associate dean, Student Affairs. “We’ve been anticipating these students for months and they seem excited to be here. They’re already forming strong bonds…we’re looking forward to a great week with them.”
Overall, Browne-Holtz said the main goal of the week is for students to understand that “everyone is here to support them.”
“We want students to at least be familiar with the people, the resources, and the programming that’s here to help them get through our program successfully and become outstanding physicians,” she said.
The first day began with an overview of the Student Affairs team and what the week will look like for the class.
Lori Stec, M.D. then provided an overview of “The Profession of Medicine.” Stec is an ophthalmologist at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital (WBUH) in Royal Oak. Further, she serves as program director for ophthalmology residency and is director of WBUH’s ophthalmology consult service. She also has several roles at OUWB: professor, director of student professionalism, and clerkship and elective director for ophthalmology.
Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, was next up. After welcoming the class, introducing himself and providing details about his background, he emphasized the importance of community and support at OUWB — including the fact that his door is always open for students.
In fact, he said that the biggest message he hopes students take away from the week is “we’re here for you.”
“We are happy you are embarking on this incredible journey to become a physician,” he said. “We know that there will be good days and bad, but overall, we want you to recognize that we’re here to support you and facilitate your growth as a student into a doctor.”
Following Carpenter, students took care of forms they needed to complete, received their laptops and locker assignments, and wrote letters to their future selves. Sara Kurkechian said that in her letter she expressed gratitude for the opportunity to connect with her future self, knowing the dedication and hard work that will be needed for the next four years.
“I told myself I know it’s gonna be hard and I know there’s gonna be trials and tribulations, but I’m so proud of you for making it this far,” Kurkechian said.
“You’ve put in the work and the time and you know you really are meant to be here, and this is truly your path,” she added. “The fact that you made it four years and you’ve actually become a doctor is such a testament to [the fact] that this is truly who you’re meant to be and that this is truly my calling in life.”
Overall, many students said they were happy to finally be starting medical school.
“It’s been a long road to get to this point so it’s great to have that feeling of actually starting medical school so we can get to that next stage of progress,” said Jacob Arenz.
“I’m excited to start this journey,” said Eric Becker. “I put in a lot of work to get to this point so I’m just very grateful and looking forward to attacking these next four years.”
“I’m glad that it’s finally started,” said Sophia Maddux. “I’ve just been waiting to start.”
For many, making connections with faculty and fellow students is what they are most excited about.
“I’m just excited to meet everyone,” said Ilyas Rasheed. “I think that inevitably at a school where there’s not a ton of students in each class you grow close to each other. I think that’ll be awesome at the end of four years…that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
“I am having so much fun it’s been so great to meet everybody, and I’m just feeling really ecstatic to be here,” said Kurkechian. “OUWB is my number one school, and I just feel at home here, everyone’s been so nice. I’m just having an amazing first day.”
And students like Rishabh Sud are especially excited about Friday’s White Coat Ceremony.
“That’s the kind of moment you work all throughout college and high school for…it’s going to be a good way to celebrate with everyone,” he said.
For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].
To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.
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