For the second year in a row, a sold-out crowd attended the UCR SOM’s Celebration of Medical Education Gala to support the school’s Mission Award Scholarship.

Monica Carson, PhD, chair of the Division of Biomedical Sciences and S. Sue Johnson Presidential Endowed Chair in Glial-Neuronal Interactions, welcomed the attendees, noting the role of the biomedical sciences division in providing the foundation for the School of Medicine and acknowledging the division’s 50th anniversary. “It is gratifying to have so many alumni, friends, colleagues, and students here with us tonight as we celebrate what a difference your support of our medical students and biomedical scientists means to the future of our community,” Carson said.

Monique Dozier, vice chancellor for University Advancement, reminded the audience that the School of Medicine also celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. “We are now boldly charging into the future to take UCR and the School of Medicine to new heights,” she said.

“I am continually humbled and inspired by the vision of those who fought to create a simple yet powerful mission for our school: to train a diverse workforce of physicians and biomedical scientists, and to develop innovative research and healthcare delivery programs to improve the health of the people in Inland Southern California,” said Deborah Deas, MD, MPH, the vice chancellor for health sciences and the Mark and Pam Rubin dean of the School of Medicine.

Deas shared several of the School of Medicine’s recent accomplishments, including its recognition as the seventh most diverse medical school in the country in 2024 by the U.S. News & World Report, the fact that it has graduated 454 MD’s since becoming a four-year medical school, and the addition of a new Master of Public Health program.

Deas then thanked the event’s sponsors, including presenting sponsor Linda Paramo. “Mrs. Paramo has recognized the need to support medical education in the Inland Southern California region and therefore generously sponsored our event this evening,” Deas said.

“These future doctors will be in the community caring for us,” said Paramo. “Let’s help them start off on a good foot.”

The gala specifically supported the Mission Awards, which cover the tuition and fees of selected students in exchange for them committing to practice medicine in the local region.

“It warms my heart to realize that each of you truly understands the significance of medical education and the impact it can have on our community,” Deas told the guests.

Mission Award recipient William Wang, class of 2028, shared his experience growing up in a low-income immigrant home in Loma Linda and seeing his older brother struggle with a drug addiction.

“These experiences have shaped me into the person I am today, a person who wants to go into medicine to prevent my own experiences from happening to as many other people as possible,” Wang said. “In addition to helping me, the Mission Scholarship will allow my classmates like those who are here tonight to become impactful and compassionate physicians who will practice in the Inland Empire.”