Nick Faraci still remembers a common question he received from his patients in a Pittsburgh spinal cord injury unit: 麻豆精品 S淒o you think I 麻豆精品 S檒l ever walk again? 麻豆精品 S� Friday, as he graduated as a UCF-trained physician, he said those patients 麻豆精品 S� and his life as a former rehab nurse and college football star 麻豆精品 S� will make him a better doctor.
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Faraci was among 121 College of Medicine students to receive their M.D. degrees May 21 in a socially distanced in-person commencement ceremony. Over its nine-year history, the UCF College of Medicine has graduated 847 physicians. Physicians from the Class of 2021 now enter residencies across Greater Orlando, Florida and the nation in specialties that include pediatrics, surgery, internal medicine, psychiatry and diagnostic radiology.
Faraci started his medical career as a registered nurse after graduating from Robert Morris University outside Pittsburgh, where he played Division I football as an offensive lineman. Clocking in at 6-foot-2 inches and 290 pounds, he jokes that he was the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center 麻豆精品 S檚 麻豆精品 S渂ig guy 麻豆精品 S� of the spinal cord injury unit. Nursing showed him how much he loved physiology and the science of what made the body work. So he decided to take on medical school, where he graduated with top academic honors.
Now he will return to the same medical center as a Physician Knight specializing in internal medicine. He says the specialty allows him to get to know people and become part of their lives, just as he did as a nurse.
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Friday 麻豆精品 S檚 College of Medicine commencement was different this year because of COVID-19. The ceremony was held in the 10,000 square-foot Addition Financial Arena to encourage social distancing. Speakers commented on how the pandemic had changed the world. As Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and dean, told graduates, 麻豆精品 S淢edicine has never needed you more. 麻豆精品 S�
UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright talked about how the pandemic had shown the university 麻豆精品 S檚 resilience and spirit. 麻豆精品 S淲hile our graduates 麻豆精品 S� final year at UCF did not go as any of us had planned, the optimism, compassion, and determination they have shown illustrate that Knights can always be counted on to rise to every occasion 麻豆精品 S� no matter the obstacles, 麻豆精品 S� he said.
This year 麻豆精品 S檚 M.D. graduates chose Faraci as their class speaker and he talked about how the pandemic had tested students 麻豆精品 S� determination and passion for serving others. He reminded them of their first class at UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 medical school where Dr. German asks students to list the qualities of 麻豆精品 S淭he Good Doctor, 麻豆精品 S� the physician they want caring for the person they love most in the world.
As students provide traits, the dean writes them on a blackboard that is displayed year-round in the College of Medicine rotunda. Faraci ended his speech with some of the words his class had selected:聽Resilient. Innovative. Patient. Compassionate.聽 Knowledgeable. Brave.
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