- College of Medicine Faculty News
Temperatures in the low 80’s and slightly overcast skies made perfect conditions for this year’s fourth annual Med School Classic golf tournament at Lake Nona Country Club April 25, which raised $40,00 for M.D. student scholarships.
More than 100 golfers, including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, participated in the tournament, where UCF cheerleaders and Dr. Deborah German, vice president for medical affairs and dean, gave participants a roaring send-off as they left for the course..
The classic is sponsored by local businesses working to relieve the burden of student debt for UCF medical students. Sponsors Dan DeCubellis of Carlton Fields Law firm and Jim Warmus of Withum Smith-Brown presented a giant check of proceeds to Dr. German at a post-competition dinner.
Thanking the donors at the event was first-year medical student Mariya Kristeva, who has a Med School Classic scholarship. “I was accepted into seven different medical schools and UCF was the only one that awarded me a scholarship,” she said. “It showed me that UCF really cared about their students’ success.”
An Army veteran and a native of Uzbekistan, Kristeva is the mother of a 2-year-old and says Florida was the first place she settled when she immigrated to the United States in 2007. She plans on specializing in internal medicine. She met her husband in the military and he serves at the Orlando VA Medical Center.
Dr. German told this year’s golfers that events like the Med School Golf Classic help UCF attract the “best and brightest students in the country.”
“We have more than 5,000 students applying for 120 places in each class,” she said. “Your support is helping build the reputation of our college. And as someone who went to medical school on a full scholarship, I can tell you first-hand the life changing importance of your gift.”