Family, friends, faculty and staff will gather in the University of Vermont’s Ira Allen Chapel on Sunday, May 19, at 3:00 p.m. to celebrate the more than 100 medical students receiving their M.D.s at the Larner College of Medicine’s Ceremony for the Class of 2024. 

Medical students receiving their M.D.s at the Larner College of Medicine’s 2024 ceremony include:

• Elise Prehoda; Class of 2024 Student President and Class Marshal, grew up on a small farm in rural Vermont. Prehoda always felt a strong drive to help others, but it wasn’t until she began working in the Emergency Department at UVMMC that her love of medicine blossomed fully. “While I previously saw physicians as prescribers; those who offer a diagnosis, medication and little more, my time working in the ED taught me that the profession is more than what meets the eye… I witnessed physicians care and mourn so deeply with family experiencing loss, I witnessed countless acts of kindness, generosity, and compassion.” Prehoda, inspired by the experience, will continue her medical journey as a resident at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Program (HAEMR) at Mass General/Brigham Young Hospital.

• Mialovena Exume; a first-generation college graduate dedicated to helping underserved communities. Hailing from Haiti, Mia and her mother emigrated to the United States when she was a young child, joining family members living stateside. She recalls the impact that the 7th Avenue Family Health Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fl., had on her as a pediatric patient: “My desire to bridge the gap in healthcare, especially for pediatric patients who are disadvantaged, developed at this clinic,” said Exume. Her time as a middle school educator in the Teach for America program in Atlanta, Ga.—teaching Spanish language and culture to students at various abilities—cemented her goal of becoming a doctor as she witnessed the impact that lack of healthcare could have on young lives. She will be further pursuing her goal of compassionate and patient-centered care as she begins her pediatrics residency at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., this summer.

• Alayna Westcom; a Bakersfield, Vt., native and Miss Vermont 2015, was always intrigued by medicine. As a young girl, Westcom’s interest in the medical field took an interesting turn—she grew up watching shows like CSI and realized that the field of forensic pathology would allow her to marry the two interests into a rewarding career. Westcom’s path to medical school took her to UVM, where she completed a post-baccalaureate degree in Medical Laboratory Science, before enrolling in Larner as a medical student. Westcom, whose birthday falls on the same day as this year’s ceremony, will continue her career journey as a Pathology Resident at the University of Vermont Medical Center. “Finishing medical school is probably one of the coolest ways to celebrate a birthday,” said Westcom. Agreed!