Among the students in the Miller School's new Class of 2014 is Gabriella Polyak, a Miami native fluent in Russian who has yearned to be a doctor since she was a child. There's also Angela Hippeli, a Spanish-speaker from Pennsylvania who spent time in Ecuador; she is sure she chose medicine when she was seven. And there's Andrew Boulos, the son of a physician who hopes the medical profession can help him become "half the man" his father is.

Then there's Tyler Beals, who tried to keep his career options open--but kept coming back to medicine.

"It's the only thing I can really imagine myself doing and being truly happy, truly challenged, and get full satisfaction from my work," said Beals. "This is what I have been preparing for for the past six years. It's kind of a rush finally being here."

Here was the fifth-floor auditorium at the Miller School's Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, where Beals, Polyak, Hippeli and Boulos sat Thursday with 148 fellow students who are fulfilling long-nurtured dreams by embarking on the study of medicine.

Freshman orientation is the official five-day welcome for new students who made the Miller School's competitive cut from 5,282 applicants. Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., will deliver his official welcome tomorrow (Wednesday) at 8 a.m. A few hours later, the freshmen will hear the first of two talks on a crucial topic: "Everything You Need to Know About Your Education Loans.''

As is customary on Day One, numerous faculty members, staff and upper-class students used humor to welcome the group and allay first-day fears about the demands of intense studying while making new friends and learning a new city.

"We think this is a game-changing day for you; you will probably never be dressed better, never look better until graduation day," said Laurence Gardner, M.D. executive dean for education and policy, whose remarks were accompanied by a short slide show chronicling the medical school's history since its 1952 founding.

"After this, you'll be casually dressed, world weary, and going up and down these stairs with lots of enthusiasm on some days-and less on others," Gardner said, earning a round of laughter from the nattily dressed group.

On a more serious note, Gardner reminded the students that the Miller School is a highly respected research medical school with a local and international reputation for pursuing a social mission, grounding its students in both health policy and real-world health care solutions, and providing the opportunity to train at Jackson Memorial Hospital, one of the nation's busiest safety-net and teaching hospitals.

"I came here as a junior faculty member because of Jackson," Gardner said. "I am still here, and most of my colleagues are still here, because of the excitement, challenges and the extraordinary kinds of patients who seek care at Jackson. That's an experience that's unequalled anywhere."

Beals, who graduated from the University of Florida with a major in zoology and a minor in music, was attracted to UM for many of the reasons Gardner mentioned.

"UM provides such an incredible learning environment and Jackson has probably the most diverse patient population of any big public hospital in the nation," said Beals, who has a strong interest in Latin culture as well as health care. "This is the kind of place that will prepare you to take care of people anywhere in the world."

On Day One, several other key faculty members also welcomed the students, including Robert L. Hernandez, M.D., senior associate dean for medical student administration; Alex J. Mechaber, M.D., senior associate dean for undergraduate medical education; and Richard Weisman, Pharm.D., associate dean for admissions. Third-year student Joshua Moore, who is president of the student government, greeted the newcomers, too, as did Jorge Guerra, M.D., chief medical officer for University of Miami Medical Group, who spoke on behalf of the medical school's alumni association.

All the speakers offered practical advice while discussing such topics as the medical school curriculum, academic policies, and physicianship and the professionalism advocacy program. As the faculty member chiefly responsible for selecting new students, Weisman joked that his job depended on their success.

Boulos, whose father works for the William V. Chappell, Jr. VA Satellite Outpatient Clinic in Daytona Beach, said he's witnessed first-hand the difficult work doctors do, and the positive impact they have on the lives of patients and their families. He said he will adopt Moore's suggestion that students develop and repeat a daily mantra that will remind them why they are studying medicine.

"Mine will be ‘Keep on learning,' because the more I know the better it'll be for the patient," Boulos said. "It's only the first day, but I am taking all of this very seriously."