For the 102 first-year students at NYU Grossman School of Medicine who took part in the time-tested ritual known as the White Coat Ceremony, cheered on by family, the milestone represented the beginning of their medical training. Many will spend close to a decade, including residency and fellowships, learning the science of medicine.

In truth, medical education is a lifelong pursuit—one that these carefully selected students are well prepared to embrace. With a median GPA of 3.97 on a 4-point scale, the incoming class also achieved near-perfect scores on the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT, with a median score of 523 out of a possible 528.

In his opening remarks, Robert I. Grossman, MD, chief executive officer of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine, lauded students for their hard-won accomplishments and encouraged them to dig deeper still to face the challenges that lie ahead. “You are here because you like difficult,” he said. “Your education will provide the tools to surmount the challenges you will confront. Savor the enormous satisfaction of curing disease and helping patients attain wellness.”

Jennifer Havens, MD, the Arnold Simon Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and chair of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, spoke in her keynote address about the dual roles of the physician—the healer and the holder—describing the latter as “those moments when you can only hold and share the place the patient finds themselves in.” She remarked of the medical profession, “We never have to search for the meaning in our work; it is handed to us in every encounter we have with a patient. We are so lucky to have this gift.”

Beyond exceptional academic credentials, NYU Grossman School of Medicine also prizes exceptional life skills and character. First-year student Daniel de Souza, from Kalispell, Montana, for example, is embarking on his medical career after seven years of service in the U.S. Navy as a SEAL officer. His medical training, he said, is yet another opportunity to serve.

“We all get tactical combat casualty care training—first responder training aimed at sustaining someone until they can get to a higher level of care,” said de Souza. “It’s profound what our medics do to make a difference in someone’s outcome. I felt becoming a doctor was an opportunity to continue serving but in a different, valuable way.”

De Souza will take advantage of an important change in the curriculum this year: all students now have the option to graduate in just three years. The flexibility will allow him to launch his five-year residency in orthopedics, his field of interest, sooner. He plans to stay at NYU Langone for his residency training. “I already feel like part of the orthopedics department,” he said. “I’ll do a fellowship next summer that will involve a lot of shadowing and provide valuable clinical experience. I love that I get to integrate into the department and learn about the specialty early.”

De Souza was attracted in part by NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s commitment to tuition-free medical education because it demonstrates how much the institution values all its students. But what led him here above all was the opportunity to train in multiple settings within NYU Langone’s expansive health system and treat patients in New York City, home to one of the largest and most diverse populations in the country. “I truly believe the breadth of the clinical training I’ll receive here is more expansive than what I would see anywhere else,” de Souza said.

Facts About Our Incoming First-Year Class

Out of 102 students, there are 92 Doctor of Medicine students, 8 dual MD/PhD Program students, and 2 Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine students.

Here are a few other facts about the class:

• 52 percent female, 47 percent male, and 1 percent nonbinary
• 24 percent from groups underrepresented in medicine
• 7 percent are the first in their family to attend college
• Median GPA: 3.97 out of 4.00
• Median MCAT score: 523 out of a possible 528

Media Inquiries

Greg Williams
Phone: 212-404-3500
Gregory.Williams@NYULangone.org