- Burnett School
A gift in honor of Dr. Mohtashem Samsam will help teach future human anatomy students at the UCF College of Medicine’s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences.
Dr. Wayne and Heidi Garcia of South Pasadena, FL, along with their daughter Jacqueline, (class of 2011) presented an anatomical model to Dr. Samsam and a class of his human-anatomy students on June 12. Jacqueline, who received an undergraduate degree from the biomedical sciences program and was also a student in the Burnett Honors College, now attends the University Of Florida College Of Dentistry. She was recently selected to serve on the college’s Admissions Review Board.
The Garcia family wanted to express its gratitude to Dr. Samsam for providing such a stellar teaching experience for Jacqueline and also help future students in the biomedical sciences program.
“Jacqueline was one of my best students,” said Dr. Samsam. “The family is so humble, and they value their daughter’s education so much. They wanted to show this kindness and sacrifice.”
The hard-plastic model is about three-quarters of a normal human’s size, comes with detachable parts and shows such things as muscles, nerves and internal organs. The model is valued at $7,500.
Even in this digital age, Dr. Samsam said, anatomical models still serve an important role.
“Models allow students to see and learn the actual size, texture and shape of the body,” he said.