On a brisk Friday morning, the sound of envelopes ripping open and shouts of joy could be heard from Koret Quad on UCSF’s Mission Bay campus in San Francisco. Serendipitously falling on St. Patrick’s Day, this year’s Match Day celebrated 184 soon-to-be UCSF graduates, as they found out where they would be continuing their medical training journey in residency.  

Originally launched in 2019 to complement in-patient focused clinical rotations, SPAN (Specialty Practice Ambulatory sub-iNternship) facilitates a greater understanding of ambulatory medicine among fourth-year medical students by pairing them with a physician preceptor to work alongside for 12 sessions over the course of 10 months.

Each year, UCSF medical students in the Inquiry Curriculum participate in over 200 mentored research projects ranging from eight weeks of summer research to full-time, yearlong projects. In 2022, the Inquiry Funding Office awarded over 100 Summer Explore grants to first-year students to engage in mentored research with UCSF faculty between their first and second years.

On November 15, 2022, UCSF First Generation Support Services (FGSS) held their First Gen Scholarship Award Dinner to acknowledge the 20 student-recipients, who actively make a positive difference in the first gen community. Student-recipients come from programs across UCSF Professional Schools and the Graduate Division. Each awardee receives $3,000 to support their educational goals.

As the voices filling the Mission Bay Conference Center slowly simmered to a hush, UCSF School of Medicine Vice Dean for Education, Dr. Catherine Lucey, began her speech by saying, “Love is in the air here.” Although an unexpected opener to the sixth annual UCSF School of Medicine Clinical Microsystems Clerkship Health Systems Improvement Symposium, which celebrates UCSF medical students’ quality improvement work in their first year and a half of medical school, she went on to explain her unique theme.

Karly Hampshire, a fourth-year UCSF medical student, was one of two University of California students recently honored with the UC President’s Award for Outstanding Student Leadership.

After two years of virtual ceremonies, the 2022 White Coat Ceremony was a stirring in-person celebration. The event marked an important rite of passage into the medical profession for this year’s incoming class of UCSF medical students.

The White Coat is a traditional symbol of the medical clinician and scientist, and has come to represent the knowledge, skill, and integrity of our profession,” said Marc Schenker, MD, Vice President of the UCSF Medical Alumni Association.

On May 12, 2022, the UCSF School of Medicine graduating class of 2022 joined together with loved ones, leadership, faculty, and staff, for the first in-person commencement ceremony since 2019. It was a spirited celebration that honored the 148 graduates who showed courage, creativity, and determination as they completed the first step of their medical education during a pandemic.   

Kyle Lakatos, a third-year UCSF medical student, recently received the U.S. Public Health Service 2022 Excellence in Public Health Award in recognition of his commitment to advocacy, community engagement, and promoting health and health care equity in partnership with marginalized and underserved populations.

The U.S. Public Health Service presents this national award annually to visionary medical students who are advancing health promotion and the public health of all Americans.

UCSF has prided itself on pushing the boundaries of medicine and society toward positive change for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only underscored the need for this continued change, but has inspired many to push and strive for it. The hope and motivation to create a better society is exemplified by this year’s incoming class of UCSF medical students, who celebrated their transition to becoming student-physicians with a virtual White Coat Ceremony this September.