We Graduated Our 609th Physician Knight

This graduation season, the UCF College of Medicine graduated 117 new doctors, and with the Class of 2019, we’ve graduated 609 Physician Knights in the last four years.

This year’s class included 18 students who also did their undergraduate work at UCF – the most in our history. These “double Knights” include a UCF-trained Army nurse who served in Iraq and a musical theater actress who found her medical calling while caring for the poor.

Jais Emmanuel is one of the UCF undergrads. She grew up in Lake Nona, earned her bachelor’s from the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, and watched as the College of Medicine came out of the ground. “I remember the college when it was just grass,” she said. “The UCF College of Medicine was in my backyard. It was always my dream to be here.”

The day before graduation, Emmanuel was honored as one of the Class of 2019’s top students – she earned all A’s during four years of medical school. In June, she begins her pediatrics residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. “I don’t want to sound cliché, but UCF does stand for opportunity,” she said. “Ever since I came here, so many opportunities have opened up for me. I’ve been able to meet mentors and teachers who have helped shape my values and showed me how to be a good doctor. They have definitely helped shape the way I will practice medicine in the future.”

Jeremy Tran, also a “double Knight,” did cancer research as a UCF undergraduate and was selected for the Order of Pegasus – the university’s most prestigious student honor. As a medical student, he helped lead the student-run free KNIGHTS Clinic and earned the Florida Board of Medicine’s Chair’s Recognition Award as a future leader in the medical profession. A self-described “Navy brat,” Tran entered the military’s Health Professions Scholarship program, which covers tuition and living expenses for medical students who agree to serve their country for one year for each year of scholarship. So, in addition to graduating Friday, Tran received a military promotion along with four other medical school military officers. Now he’s off to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where he will train in orthopedic surgery.

“UCF has been a huge part of my life – I’ve spent about a third of my life here,” he said.

UCF double Knight Arron Smith served in Iraq as an Army nurse and met his future wife, Melissa, there – she was also an Army nurse. They earned their nursing degrees at UCF, worked as nurses, and then decided to pursue medical school. Dr. Melissa Smith graduated in the Class of 2018. This year, dressed in full military uniform, she pinned her husband with his new military rank after he received his M.D. diploma. Arron will join his wife in residency training at Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington state. “It’s exhilarating for both of us to be part of the UCF legacy,” he said.

UCF undergraduate and now UCF-trained physician Lauren Fragapane grew up in Oviedo and graduated with honors as an undergraduate biomedical sciences major. She was named the Class of 2019’s top student, receiving the Dean’s Award for academic, clinical and professional excellence. She will do her neurology residency at the University of South Florida.

“I want to be a Florida physician,” she said. “I want to practice here. UCF has basically been with me this entire journey.”

As our new doctors begin their residencies at hospitals across our community, state and nation, they will be strong ambassadors for our emerging Medical City. They have done well. I can’t wait to see them fulfill their dreams.