May 17, 2025

Families were front-and-center Saturday, both inside and outside Ruby Diamond Concert Hall, as the Florida State University College of Medicine celebrated by sending 113 new physicians out into world. It also welcomed eight new members to the incoming medical school class of 2029 with the graduation of the Bridge to Medical Sciences master’s degree class.

Following the 21st commencement ceremony, the College of Medicine now counts 2,069 alumni physicians caring for patients throughout Florida and the nation. Twelve of the newly-minted physicians are among the 222 graduates of the Bridge pathway program, precisely following the legislation that created the school, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

“If there are four words within the mission statement of this medical school that sum up what the FSU College of Medicine stands for, they are these: Responsive to community needs,” College of Medicine Dean Dr. Alma Littles said in her opening address.

“That’s what brought so many of us to this school. It’s what brought many of you here as students. It’s what guided our decisions during the admission process: our belief that you identify with our mission and will go out into the world, no matter your specialty, and be responsive to community needs … providing competent and compassionate care for your patients. Your lives will be enriched as you improve the lives of others.”

FSU’s M.D. Class of 2025 will have an opportunity to enrich those lives in many ways, matching in no fewer than 14 different residency specialties, with 51% of class committing to a primary care specialty – family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics-gynecology. Those specialties cover the full cycle of life and were central to the college’s creation when it was signed into law on June 15, 2000.

Who picked up hardware at Friday's Class of 2025 Presentation of Awards?

Dr. Joedrecka Brown Speights, chair of the college’s Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, took a deep look beyond the opening line of the Physician’s Oath in her commencement address.

First, I will do no harm.

Dr. Brown Speights walked the students down a memory lane of big moments along the way to the days’ event – MCATs, medical school interviews, board examinations, rotations and Match Day.

“Beyond, all of that, and doing no harm, is making sure that at any moment we are with a patient, we are fully present, listening for underlying concerns, motives and fears; remembering their humanity,” she said. “And that our most transformative patient care is an act of love…Beyond doing no harm is love.”

Dr. Brown Speights’ self-titled address “Through the lens of Love” seemed to resonate throughout a day of celebration among students, families, friends at various locations:

▪ In the rehearsal hall, down below the Ruby Diamond stage, where students from all six regional campuses became reacquainted after two years apart while completing clinical studies, prior to lining up for the processional;

▪ On the north steps of Westcott Hall, where each of the regional campus classes and the Marianna rural campus, gathered for regalia photos, perhaps marking their final full assembly together, and afterwards;

▪ On the grounds surrounding the Westcott Fountain, where graduates and families reunite, some for multi-generational family photos to commemorate the day.

Early Saturday morning, in a corner of the Ruby Diamond stage, Dean Emeritus John P. Fogarty, hosted the four military graduates from the class and their families in a pinning ceremony he instituted shortly after beginning his 14-year run as the College of Medicine dean. Fogarty is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who spent 20 years as an Army physician.

Initially part of the class awards program held the day before the big event, the pinning ceremony became part of days’ activities around 2014, when the more formal Military Promotion was added to the commencement ceremony.

“My grandfather [Carson Peacock] was a 26-year military veteran, a Command Sergeant Major (CSM),” said Ryan Peacock, who is following the Army path laid before him. "My father [Roman Peacock] did the reserves after doing ROTC at Virginia Tech.

“When I was doing my gap years, in between undergraduate and medical school, I decided if I didn’t get in [to medical school] I was probably going to try out for Ranger team or something military-related to continue that trend. But I got in that year and said, ‘all right, I was already going to go in without the medicine, let’s go ahead and combine the two.’”

An FSU undergraduate from the inaugural class of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences students, Peacock matched in emergency medicine and will begin residency at the University of North Carolina Hospitals.

Erika Balazs, one of three physicians from the class who chose the Air Force, joining Mike Llerena and Nathan Steineck, has a very special family connection as well.

“My dad was my inspiration,” Balazs said. “He was in the military for 22 years and I was raised in a military community. I liked the camaraderie that I saw, and I always wanted to serve.”

George Balazs was a Master Sergeant (Msgt) in the Air Force. Erika grew up in Crestview, Florida and graduated from Niceville High School, right down the road from Eglin AFB where she was born.

“I decided I wanted do medicine in middle school and actually shadowed general surgeons back at Eglin in high school, and knew I wanted to do surgery then,” said Balazs, who will be in general surgery residency at Keesler Medical Center Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi.

“I started the [military application] process during my gap year. My dad had told me about it. I initially committed in August after I completed anatomy.”

Following the hooding ceremony for the class, the four military students marched onto to the stage to hear their promotion orders read aloud. Fogarty led the new Graduate Medical Officers in reaffirmation of their oath.

It's a moving moment on an emotional day – Armed Forces Day – that concluded with the playing of the Armed Forces Medley, where current and former members of each branch in attendance stand at attention as their service branch song is played.

Misty-eyed among them were Roman Peacock and George Balazs.

Shortly after the recessional, two other Niceville High graduates with familial military connections reunited with family for congratulatory hugs and photos in the shade outside of Westcott Hall.

Siblings, Braden Cathey and Rachel Cervera, celebrated their completion of medical school together, hooded in that order. Rachel was visibly beaming in the background as Tallahassee Regional Campus Dean, Dr. Sandeep Rahangdale placed the hood over Braden’s head.

“I’m just very lucky,” said Rachel, who married medical school classmate Luis Cervera in April. “I don’t think anyone else can say that they got to go to school with their sibling, but they also met their husband and got married when they were there. It’s been really special. I’m very lucky that I got to do this with my family. I felt very supported.”

Luis Cervera, who was hooded with his Fort Pierce Regional Campus class, blew a kiss to Rachel as he walked on stage. She stood up to watch campus dean Dr. Juliette Lomax-Homier place the hood over his head.

“I’m a very sentimental person,” Rachel said, wryly adding. “I didn’t have to stand for Braden because I was right behind him in line.”

One of the other personal, post-graduation highlights, were the siblings posing for a photo with their wheelchair-bound maternal grandfather and U.S. Army veteran, Brantley Clark, and other family members.

“We weren’t sure he was going to be able to make it today,” Rachel said. “Getting him to be able to come today was so important. I saw him standing up when they played the Army song. I was very impressed.”

The Cervera’s couples-matched at the University of Tennessee Graduate Medical School in Knoxville. So did the Lamba’s – Nikhil and Jasmin – who also wed this year and are headed to the Tampa area for residency.

“It’s a very special moment, to not only share with her – my new wife – but my family, as well,” Luis said. “Because we recently got married, it means a whole lot more. This is my life partner; the woman I’m going to share the rest of my life with. Graduation is great, but to me, she is and the family we will create and life together is my greatest achievement. This is just the cherry on top.

“To have both our families here to witness this just adds to how special the moment is to both of us.”

There was seemingly no shortage of love and appreciation in the air. Class president Sean Wimberley set the appreciative tone very early on in the program as he addressed his classmates and those in the audience.

“This speech is not mine alone - it belongs to all of us,” Wimberley said. “Each voice, each story, and each step in this journey has contributed to the collective experience we now celebrate.”

And Wimberley closed it with this:

“To the Class of 2025 - thank you for being part of this unforgettable journey. May we move forward as physicians who lead with heart, guided by knowledge, grounded in compassion, and inspired by the strength we have found in each other.”

Contact Bob Thomas, robert.thomas@med.fsu.edu

Top photo: Dr. Joedrecka Brown Speights, chair of the College of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, reminded the graduates that love is an essential element when caring for patients. (Photo by Colin Hackley)

Bottom photo: Newlyweds and newly-minted physicians, Rachel and Luis Cervera, had many reasons to celebrate with their families, which included Rachel's brother Braden, who also received his M.D. (Photo by Colin Hackley)

Cover photo: Graduates of the M.D. Class of 2025 repeat each line of the Physician's Oath, which was administered by Dr. Michael Sweeney. (Photo by Colin Hackley)