Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine Celebrates Class of 2025 Commencement

The graduates of the Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine Class of 2025 celebrated their achievements today during a Commencement ceremony at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Of the graduating class of 37 students, 13 will begin their residencies at St. Luke’s this summer.

“I feel a deep connection to the patients, faculty and health care teams here. I am most looking forward to growing into the role of a resident physician, where I can build lasting relationships with my patients and be a consistent part of their care through all stages of life,” shared Kelly Riccio, MD, who will train in the Family Medicine residency in Bethlehem.

“Staying at St. Luke’s means I will continue learning in an environment that has already shaped me with strong clinical training, compassionate patient care and supportive mentorship. I believe this foundation will carry over seamlessly into residency, giving me the confidence to take on greater responsibility while continuing to serve the community I know and love.”

The Class of 2025 is the eleventh graduating class at Temple/St. Luke’s, the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school, and only the second class that has trained at the Network for all four years. Working side by side with resident physicians at St. Luke’s exposes medical students to more than 50 residency program options and forges mentorships, helping to grow the physician workforce and expanding access to care for patients across the region.

Riccio’s classmate, Roshanara Diaz Mejia, MD, who will next train in the St. Luke’s Pediatrics residency program at Anderson Campus, echoed her desire to develop connections with her patients and praised the preparation that the medical school provided her.

“I’m looking forward to forming long-term relationships with my patients and getting to be their doctor,” Dr. Diaz Mejia shared. “I’m also excited to continue developing the skills that Temple/St. Luke’s started to forge, including thinking critically about the patient and taking the whole patient into account.”

Senior Associate Dean of the medical school, Shaden Eldakar-Hein, MD, MS, FACP, expressed gratefulness about being a part of the students’ journeys into medicine.

“Watching our graduates learn and grow alongside one another has been a joy. We have witnessed them all embrace moments of growth and become fuller versions of themselves while lifting each other up along the way,” she said. “They will make exceptional physicians. I am proud that throughout their time with us, they focused on ways to make a difference for their patients, their profession and their community.”

All students at the Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine receive $10,000 scholarships annually, which are supported by the establishment of $25 million endowment. In addition, St. Luke’s loan forgiveness program provides $20,000 to students who match into Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Psychiatry or Pediatrics residencies at the Network, further incenting young doctors to practice medicine in the Lehigh Valley.

Shortly before graduation, Riccio and Diaz Mejia, along with their classmates Kyle Tio, MD, Taj Singh, MD, Patrick Foran, MD and Brianna Talbot, MD, were informed that they would be recipients of this year’s Loan Forgiveness program.

“I am extremely grateful and humbled to receive this scholarship award. Medical education has been so expensive, and receiving this financial assistance feels like a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders,” said Dr. Tio. “This will allow me to focus on being the best resident physician possible to eventually give this generosity back to the community ten-fold.”