The UC Riverside School of Medicine Class of 2030 took their next step toward becoming doctors on Friday during the White Coat Ceremony. The annual event, which symbolizes incoming students’ entry into the medical profession, saw 96 new medical students and five PhD candidates in biomedical sciences receive their first white coats. The 2026 ceremony was held on Friday, August 7 at the Student Recreation Center on the UC Riverside campus.
“I feel absolutely ecstatic; it's everything I ever dreamed of as a child,” said Nathan Aldo Llamas, Class of 2030. “For it all to come together at this point, it's unbelievable.”
Deborah Deas, MD, MPH, vice chancellor for health sciences and the Mark and Pam Rubin dean of the School of Medicine, welcomed the students along with their family and friends.
She noted that the class includes 30 Thomas Haider Scholars. The Thomas Haider Program at the SOM provides at least 24 seats in each medical school class for qualified UCR undergraduate students, furthering the school’s mission to educate physicians that are committed to serving the local area. “These scholars continue a visionary legacy established by Dr. and Mrs. Haider to train UCR graduates to become distinguished physicians, and to give back to their communities,” Deas said.
Llamas is one Haider Scholar in the class. After graduating from UCR in 2023 with a BS in biology, the Riverside local worked in the area as an emergency medical technician and fell in love with medicine. “I quickly recognized the need for physicians, especially in emergency medicine, and I hoped that I could train to eventually help those patients,” he said.
Deas also highlighted the SOM’s EVOLVE curriculum, which the new class will follow for the majority of their time in medical school. “Over the last few years, we’ve worked diligently to re-imagine our curriculum so that every UCR medical student graduate is ready to make a meaningful difference in the lives of their patients and communities,” Deas explained of the curriculum, which will launch in 2027.
First-year medical student Sadaf Sadighian expressed her excitement about her upcoming courses. “I'm really interested to start learning and actually seeing true medicine, and I'm so excited that we have LACE (Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience) to be able to actually go interact with patients early on,” she said.
Sadighian immigrated to the Inland Empire from Iran with her twin sister, Assal Sadighian. They both attended UCR for their undergraduate education and are now starting medical school together as well. Living with their grandparents, Sadaf noticed the challenges her family faced accessing adequate healthcare. “Witnessing my grandpa's journey really inspired me to want to take charge and be able to be that physician for others, so that their language or where they come from or any other factors don’t really impact their healthcare,” Sadaf said.
The sisters were accepted into the Haider Early Assurance Program, guaranteeing them admission to the UCR SOM without applying to other medical schools. “I love the community, so UCR was my top choice,” Assal said. “Riverside became my home when I immigrated to the U.S., so I really wanted to serve this region.”
Lisa R. Fortuna, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, presented the event’s keynote speech. She shared her love of the medical profession while highlighting the importance of serving the community, particularly in the Inland Empire with its ongoing physician shortages and health disparities. "By choosing this profession, many of you will become that physician for someone who has been waiting far too long to find one," she said. "That is why you are here."
She reminded students' families that their sacrifices will have an impact far beyond their own homes. "By supporting this future physician, you are helping improve the health of countless other families throughout the Inland Empire and beyond," she said. "The encouragement you give today will echo for decades in healthier children, stronger communities, and lives that your student has not yet met."
For new medical student Michael Isaiah Spencer, who grew up in the Inland Empire, the UCR SOM “allows me to serve those who helped raise me.” He added, “I chose UCR because it mirrors the commitment that I personally serve.”
Spencer is a Haider Scholar and is also part of the SOM’s Program in Medical Education (PRIME), which trains physicians to address the healthcare needs of the African, Black, and Caribbean (ABC) communities in the region. “I wanted to join the PRIME Program because I think that the underserved, especially people of color, don't always receive the same treatment and adequate medical care,” Spencer said. “That was very important to me as a student of color because it's very important that our patients have someone who looks like them.”
The event concluded with the students reciting the UCR Medical Student Oath, led by Moazzum Bajwa, MD, director of the Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience (LACE) Program at the SOM.
