Students Celebrated at 2024 White Coat Ceremony

A White Coat Ceremony at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine on August 16 celebrated the students who have begun pursuing medical degrees to care for the people of central and southern Illinois and beyond.

During the event in Carbondale’s Shryock Auditorium, 80 students received white coats, marking the beginning of their journeys to becoming physicians. Members of the Class of 2028 will spend the first year of training on the Carbondale campus and years 2-4 in Springfield. (Eight students in the medical school’s Lincoln Scholars program spend all four years downstate.)

SIU Medicine Associate Dean for Student Affairs Haneme Idrizi, MD; Dean and Provost Jerry Kruse, MD, MSPH; and Executive Associate Dean Chris McDowell, MD, welcomed the students. Amanda Mulch, MD, assistant dean for student affairs, read the student names while Dean Kruse and Richard Austin, MD, Class of 2014, and president of the school’s Alumni Society Board of Governors, presented them with white coats on behalf of the Alumni Society.

Debra Klamen, MD, MHPE, senior associate dean for education and curriculum and chair of the Department of Medical Education at SIU Medicine, also welcomed the students and led them in reading the Physician’s Pledge.

SIU pediatrician and alumna Jody Lack, MD, offered words of encouragement in the keynote address. “It's hard, but please look on any failure as an opportunity to grow, a chance to approach something differently and learn in a completely new way. Be open to where this journey in medicine takes you and embrace the ups and downs as they come,” she said. “When you bring your full self to the field of medicine, our collective knowledge and understanding of culture and creed deepen. We give better care, and patients benefit because of it.”

The White Coat Ceremony is designed to establish a commitment to professionalism and empathy in medicine. It is held at most U.S. medical schools each fall.

Established in 1970, SIU School of Medicine is based in Springfield and Carbondale and focused on the health care needs of downstate Illinois. It educates physicians to practice in Illinois communities and has graduated 3,311 physicians since the first class in 1975.

Photos of the students are available upon request.

View photos from the event on Zenfolio.

Watch a video of the ceremony on YouTube.

Class of 2028 students, hometowns & parents+spouse, grouped by region

CENTRAL ILLINOIS

James Beavers          Taylorville         Ben Beavers & Dawn DeWispeleare / James & Sona Beavers

Kelsey Breneman      Springfield         Brad & Cheri Breneman    

William Drake            Springfield         Hugh & Susan Drake        

Jarret Easterday        Carlinville          Chad & Tammy Easterday

Kaylee Fafoglia          Springfield        Rob & Jeny Fafoglia          

Lucinda Fitzgibbons   Metamora         David & Deborah Fitzgibbons        

Sarah Foster              Springfield         Richard & Laurie Foster    

Riley Hochstein          Springfield IL    Thomas & Kathleen Hochstein      

Aniyah Kramer           Peoria                Anthony Kramer & Laquana Garry

Nina Litvak                 Springfield         Jordan Litvak & Ruta Kulys

Lauren Lucykow         Hillsboro            Charles & Kimberly Lucykow          

Mostafa Massoud      Springfield          Ibrahim Massoud & Lamiaa Elkholy            

Sarah McLaughlin     Springfield           Joey & Michelle Eccles McLaughlin

Kayla Miner               Springfield           Ken & Michelle Miner      

Clayton O'Brien         East Peoria         Rick & Jean O'Brien + spouse Jaycie Stealy  

Jacob Rashid             Peoria                 John & Cindy Rashid        

Joel Ryan                  Springfield           Marty & Michelle Ryan    

Lindsey Sapetti          Rochester           Larry Sapetti & Julie Edwards        

Jacob Western          Rochester            Randy & Jennifer Western

EASTERN ILLINOIS

Evan Beilfuss             Bloomington       Jamie & Janine Beilfuss    

Ahmad Bobat              Champaign        Arif & Farhana Bobat /Ismail & Yasmin Bobat            

Sriya Darsi                  Bloomington       Nanda & Lakshmi Darsi    

Dalya Fadl-Alla           Champaign         Bahaa Fadl-Alla & Latifa Omran      

Jarius Ingram             Decatur      Jeremy & Jamie Ingram + spouse Victoria (Stuart) Ingram                    

Lydia Johnson           Bloomington        Roger & Jennifer Johnson

Michael Lee               Savoy                  Hyokyung & Hyeyoung Lee            

Ki Lim                        Champaign          Hyoun Sub Lim & Eun Sun Son        

Gillian McDermott     Bourbonnais         Mark & Kimberly McDermott        

Isha Nair                    Bloomington        Madhu Nair & Subathra Ramakrishnan        

Luke Opilka                Effingham           John & Lisa Opilka + spouse Izzy Opilka        

Jonathan Perabeau    Bourbonnais       Charles & Gayle Perabeau

Eaman Saleh             Forsyth                Ayman & Neam Saleh      

Carson Schaefer        Downs                 Kevin & Rebecca Schaefer

Ayushi Shah               Bloomington        Dr. Samir & Reshma Shah

Jaclyn Young              Gibson City         Eric Young & Dianna Hudson          

Britany Ziemer            Carlock                Louis & Linda Ziemer        

NORTHERN ILLINOIS

Oluwafikayo Adeboye    Chicago                Owolabi & Olaide Adeboye            

Stevie Askew                 Chicago                Steven & Alicia Rogers-Askew        

Lucas Glowinsk              Malta                    James & Stacey Glowinski

Zachary Gutenkauf        Oswego                Joseph & Elizabeth Gutenkauf        

Matt MacArthur              South Elgin           Scott & Gina MacArthur  

Luke Manietta                Coal City               Troy & Jolene Manietta    

Angel Navarrete             Genoa                   Jose & Laura Navarrete    

Melanie Nielsen              Hebron                  Mike & Vicki Nielsen        

Andrew Nisipeanu          Wadsworth            Eugen & Oana Nisipeanu  

Caleb Rathbun               Belvidere               Michael & Martha Rathbun            

Ernesha Salcedo            Lawrence              Nerto Salcedo & Milagro Paulino  

Luis Sanchez-Venegas  Beach Park            Viviano Sanchez Cervantes &

Maria Del Rosario Venegas Becerra

Allyson Sayasane          St. Charles             Thom & Pong Sayasane    

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

Lulu Abou-Jabal            Carbondale             Maher Abou-Jabal & Nidaa Hamada            

Mohammed Ashkar       Fairview Heights     Waleed & Maha Ashkar    

Marissa Aviles               O'Fallon                   Luis & Tina Aviles

Austin Balabas              Waterloo                  Brad & Barbara Balabas    

Jacob Brush                  Anna                       Bradley Brush & Patricia Shaffer    

Maci Burgener              Olney                       Jay & Michelle Burgener  

Justine Crowell             Columbia                 Richard & Ramah Crowell

Haley Davitz                 Freeburg                  Mark & MaryPat Davitz    

Hannah Eastman          Belleville                  Michael & Michelle Eastman          

Aden Gill                       Mount Carmel          Jacob Gill & Amanda Andrews + spouse Libby Gill    

Alexis Hamon               Aviston                     Neil & Tracy Hamon          

Ruth Kvistad                New Baden               Eric & Shari Kvistad          

Jack Landmann            Highland                  Roger & LeeAnn Landmann            

Seungwon Lim             Fairview Heights      Chong Woo & Eun Young Lim        

Madeleine Love            O'Fallon                    Ed Love & Lisa Love / Roberta Love

Brynne Massetto          Marion                      Scott & Petra Massetto    

Stephanie Mullen         Granite City              Harrison & Jennifer Mullen            

Carley Olson                Waterloo                   Mike & Donna Olson        

Parth Patel                   Collinsville                Prince & Mina Patel          

Abby Sartin                   Anna                       Jack & Danette Sartin        

Nicholas Weems          Carbondale              Bryan Weems & Renee Watkins    

WESTERN ILLINOIS

Cherise Anderson-Sheurman Pittsfield Calvin & Charlene Anderson + spouse Dalton Sheurman

Brendan Hird              Rock Island                Kevin & Leslie Hird            

Shaddy Khalafallah    Moline                        Ahmed & Ebtesam Khalafallah      

Shivam Patel              Galva                         Dharmendra & Hena Patel              

Blake Peter                 Quincy                       RJ Peter & Amy Peter-Vogel / Darren Vogel            

Evan Wiegand            Quincy                       Phil & Lori Wiegand

OUT OF STATE

Faduma Abukar          Seattle                  Ali Hussein & Amina Haji

Tayla Gaines               New Orleans        Jeffery Smith & India Reed            

Justin Green                Augusta, GA        LP Green & Dawn Phillips

Micah Merritt                Cleveland, OH     Michael & Chandra Merritt            

Elizabeth Santana        Bronx, NY            Erikson Zapata & Ana Santana + spouse Bryan Bancroft

Megan Sullivan   Virginia Beach, VA Edward Miller & Theresa Strain + spouse Patrick Sullivan