This academic year started off a little differently than past years for our new incoming class of medical students. The majority of their orientation sessions were held via Zoom, and the limited in-person activities were arranged in small-groups with students physically distanced and masked. There were, however, some aspects of orientation that were the same. For example, the UCI School of Medicine continues to require medical students to have their own personal Apple iPad to use throughout their medical school career. Through the iMedEd initiative, the school provides assistance to ensure each student has access to an iPad device, and, in collaboration with The Hill UCI Bookstore which remains closed due to COVID-19, we were still able to personally deliver iPads to the appreciative students at the Medical Education building.

During the online technology orientation on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, the Class of 2024 was surprised and overwhelmingly excited when they learned from Dean Dr. Michael Stamos and Dr. J. Christian Fox, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, that they would become the second UCI School of Medicine class to receive their own personal Butterfly iQ hand-held ultrasound devices. Watch their reactions here:

These devices will serve as a central component to our well-established, longitudinal ultrasound curriculum led by Dr. Fox. UCI has offered this curriculum to our medical students for nearly a decade, and we continue to be a leader in preparing future physicians with the diagnostic skills of point-of-care ultrasound.

Please join us in welcoming the Class of 2024 to this different, but not so different, academic year!