May 2011

Jan Garavaglia, the Orlando-area physician known to Discovery Channel viewers as “Dr. G: Medical Examiner,” will be the guest speaker at the Class of 2011’s graduation ceremony.

The College of Medicine’s seventh commencement ceremony will feature 114 graduates. That’s 20 more than last year and, of course, the largest class ever.

The ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21, at Christian Heritage Church, 2820 Sharer Road. The valedictorian is Mark Elliott.

Also participating will be 10 Bridge students who will receive the Master’s in Biomedical Sciences, Bridge to Clinical Medicine Major. On May 31 they will be among the brand-new medical students who begin their orientation as the Class of 2015.

Garavaglia, a member of the Orlando regional campus’s clerkship faculty, is chief medical examiner for District 9 (Orlando and Orange counties) in Florida. She was invited to speak by the graduates themselves. Speaking in public is hardly new to her: She has appeared on the Larry King and Oprah Winfrey shows, among many others. Her show in 2008 received an International Health and Medical Media award as “Best Health Series.”

Two days before graduation is the Class of 2011 awards ceremony, set to begin at 4 p.m. in the College of Medicine auditorium. This year, for the first time, the pinning ceremony for military students will be part of the awards program.

Jennifer Brown, Kelli Murphy and Jazmin Overton will officially receive the promotion in rank that students in the armed services are entitled to upon completion of medical school graduation requirements. Also participating in the ceremony will be College of Medicine faculty members who served, or currently serve, in the military, including Dean John Fogarty. Fogarty is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who spent 20 years as an Army physician.

The class reception will follow the awards ceremony in the atrium.