{"id":354064,"date":"2026-07-27T20:03:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T20:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/354064\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T20:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T20:03:07","slug":"morsani-college-of-medicine-celebrates-record-breaking-incoming-class-of-2030","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/354064\/","title":{"rendered":"Morsani College of Medicine celebrates record-breaking incoming Class of 2030"},"content":{"rendered":"

The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine<\/a> today welcomed the strongest incoming class in its history, with a record-breaking
\n academic profile that places the students among the most accomplished in the nation.<\/p>\n

The 140 students of the Class of 2030 arrived with a median MCAT score of 521, equal
\n to the 98th percentile nationally, or the Top 2% of all test-takers based on current
\n national scoring data. It represents the highest median MCAT score ever recorded by
\n an incoming class at the University of South Florida.<\/p>\n

New college highs were also achieved for GPA, with a median overall GPA of 3.98 and
\n median science GPA of 3.99. Taken together, the new cohort\u2019s academic credentials
\n stand alongside the strongest at any medical school in the country.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s class arrives as the Morsani College of Medicine continues to receive
\n national recognition for its educational rigor, research growth and clinical excellence.
\n Earlier this year, the school earned the highest Tier 1 rating for research from U.S. News & World Report<\/a>, one of only 16 medical schools nationwide to receive the designation. USF became
\n the first medical school in Florida to achieve Tier 1 status in 2025 and is the only
\n one in the state to have held the honor in consecutive years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM<\/a>, executive vice president of USF Health<\/a> and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, said the class\u2019s outstanding qualifications
\n reflect a decade-long rise in the competitiveness of incoming students, who have continued
\n setting new standards for academic excellence year after year. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to welcome such an extraordinary class,\u201d said Dr. Lockwood.\u00a0 \u201cThese
\n remarkable students had their choice of outstanding medical schools, and we are honored
\n they chose USF Health. We are committed to providing them with an innovative, rigorous
\n curriculum and supportive, insightful faculty who are deeply invested in their success.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Class of 2030 enters medical school with an extraordinary record of achievement,
\n students say the numbers are only one part of their story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Students arrive at USF with a wide range of backgrounds, interests and life experiences.
\n Some begin medical school after years spent conducting research in laboratories or
\n serving on patient care teams. Others were drawn to medicine through moments of illness,
\n caregiving, mentorship and community service that showed them the difference devoted
\n doctors can make in people\u2019s lives. Despite their unique paths, uniting them all is
\n a shared desire to become physicians who provide compassionate, patient-centered care
\n for those most in need.<\/p>\n

The class draws from communities across Florida and the nation and includes students
\n from leading universities throughout the country. Sixty-six students attended undergraduate
\n institutions ranked among the nation\u2019s Top 30 universities by U.S. News & World Report.
\n Sixty-eight attended Florida colleges or universities and 35 graduated from USF, making
\n it the most represented university in the class.<\/p>\n

Outside of their studies, the students bring a breadth of personal talents and interests,
\n ranging from embroidery, cooking and bouldering to cricket, pickleball, programming
\n and filmmaking. Seventy-nine percent of the students speak at least two languages,
\n while 38% speak three or more.<\/p>\n

Meet a few of the remarkable students from the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
\n Class of 2030<\/p>\n

Nicholas Beskow<\/p>\n

USF already feels like home for Florida native Nicholas Beskow.<\/p>\n

Originally from Naples, he grew up in a close-knit family shaped by his parents, who
\n immigrated from Argentina and instilled in him the importance of relationships and
\n building community. Those values set him on his path to medicine.<\/p>\n

Beskow attended USF as a National Merit Scholar, studying molecular biosciences and
\n graduating from the Judy Genshaft Honors College<\/a> as part of the accelerated BS\/MD program<\/a>. While an undergraduate, he served as a peer mentor and developed lifelong friendships
\n with classmates, many of whom are now fellow first-year students at the Morsani College
\n of Medicine.<\/p>\n

He also built close relationships with USF mentors and faculty. Beskow served as a
\n lead research assistant in the I-HOPE Lab<\/a>, which focuses on pediatric health promotion in oncology and obesity, and worked
\n on research projects in genetic counseling with Deborah Cragun, PhD<\/a>, professor in the USF College of Public Health<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those relationships convinced him the Morsani College of Medicine was the right place
\n to continue his training.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone I\u2019ve met at USF has been so supportive of each other,\u201d Beskow said. \u201cIt
\n does not feel like a competitive environment. It feels like a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beskow begins medical school interested in family medicine, inspired in part by his
\n father, a family medicine physician. He sees the specialty as a natural fit for his
\n interest in public health and preventive care, as well as his desire to build lasting
\n relationships with patients and communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cTampa feels like home,\u201d Beskow said. \u201cIt feels like I was a puzzle piece outside
\n of the puzzle, and when I came to Tampa, it fit perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaleigh Delbridge<\/p>\n

Kaleigh Delbridge entered college leaning toward a career in medicine, but she wanted
\n to be sure the profession was right for her.<\/p>\n

So as an undergraduate at Baylor University, she took every opportunity to gain experience
\n in the field. She was part of Baylor\u2019s Medical Ethics Discussion Society, worked in
\n psychology and dementia research labs and served as a genetics learning assistant.<\/p>\n

She also worked as an emergency department scribe, where she said one patient encounter
\n confirmed the kind of physician she wanted to become.<\/p>\n

Delbridge remembers watching as her attending physician sat down with a patient who
\n had lived for years with chronic illness and autoimmune disease. The emergency department
\n was getting busier, but rather than rush to the next patient, the physician spent
\n nearly 30 minutes talking with the patient about her concerns, previous tests and
\n thoughts about the best path forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching that provider-patient relationship develop right in front of me cemented
\n what I wanted to do,\u201d Delbridge said.<\/p>\n

Delbridge and her older sister, Abigail, a pediatric resident at USF Health, are the
\n first in their family to enter medicine. After years spent working toward the goal,
\n Delbridge said beginning her first day of medical school felt like a surreal moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo finally be starting at a program like USF, meeting my classmates and seeing everything
\n become real, it feels incredibly special,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Siddharth Chitta<\/p>\n

Siddharth Chitta was exposed to scientific research early in life through the cancer
\n research careers of his parents.<\/p>\n

But during middle school, a family experience in health care showed him how his interest
\n in science could connect with the personal relationships at the heart of medicine.<\/p>\n

His mother was injured in a car accident and needed spinal surgery. As Chitta watched
\n her physicians care for her, he saw a side of medicine that felt deeply human.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized medicine was science with a personal aspect,\u201d Chitta said. \u201cI wanted to
\n be in a field where I could do breakthrough research and work on something impactful,
\n but also interact with people. I really saw that in medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Buffalo, New York, Chitta grew up in Jacksonville and graduated from the University
\n of Pennsylvania. He spent much of his undergraduate career in research, including
\n work at Mayo Clinic and Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia. He served as biology
\n director of Science Olympiad at the University of Pennsylvania and worked as part
\n of the Weber Lab team investigating T-cell function to enhance cancer therapeutics.<\/p>\n

He brings that research experience to USF as one of five incoming students in the
\n MD\/PhD program<\/a>, an intensive eight-year path<\/a> that trains physician-scientists to bridge clinical care and groundbreaking biomedical
\n research.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chitta said choosing the Morsani College of Medicine for that journey was an easy
\n decision. Not only did it allow him to be closer to home, but it offered him access
\n to an expansive academic health environment that includes USF Health, Tampa General Hospital<\/a> and Moffitt Cancer Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cUSF felt like the right place to pursue both sides of what I want to do,\u201d Chitta
\n said. \u201cIt gives me access to incredible research and clinical opportunities. For someone
\n who wants to bring science closer to patients, that combination was really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

MD CLASS OF 2030 BY THE NUMBERS<\/p>\n

140 students<\/p>\n

521 (Top 2% nationally) median MCAT score<\/p>\n

3.98 median GPA<\/p>\n

3.99 median science GPA<\/p>\n

66 (47%) attended a Top 30 ranked university for their undergraduate degree<\/p>\n

35 (25%) received undergraduate degrees from the University of South Florida<\/p>\n

53 (38%) speak three or more languages<\/p>\n

More images from Professions of Health<\/p>\n

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