By News and Internal Communications

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – JULY 23, 2025 – For the UTRGV School of Medicine’s incoming Class of 2029, the journey to becoming a physician begins with a symbolic moment: the White Coat Ceremony. Of this year’s incoming class, 58 percent are from the Rio Grande Valley, with students representing some of the nation’s most prestigious universities, including Stanford, Princeton, Northwestern, Rice and Baylor.

The ceremony will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 26, at the UTRGV Performing Arts Complex on the Edinburg Campus. The event will also be livestreamed on YouTube for those unable to attend. 

Dr. Ramiro Caballero, Pharr city commissioner and neonatologist with Pediatrix Medical Group, will serve as this year’s keynote speaker. A longtime advocate for healthcare access in South Texas, Caballero has helped bring critical services to the region, including Pharr’s first freestanding emergency room and the creation of Pharr EMS.

Among the 55 students donning their first white coats is Valley native Victoria Velazquez, a UTRGV Luminary Scholar from Lasara, Texas — a small, rural community in Willacy County.

For Velazquez, the white coat represents a lifelong commitment to the people who raised her.

“This white coat means hope, for the people in my community, for those who’ve struggled with healthcare access,” Velazquez said. “It is a promise to become the best provider I can be by bringing knowledge, compassion, and care to those who need it most. It’s a promise to give back to the Valley that gave me so much.” 

Raised in a town where healthcare was often out of reach, Velazquez was inspired early by her mother, an occupational therapist, and her father, a physician assistant. Watching them serve others and witnessing the gaps in care around her shaped her understanding of what it means to heal and to lead.

“I saw firsthand the challenges people faced in accessing care,” she said. “Now, as I begin my medical journey, I want to be the one who helps bridge those gaps.”

Velazquez will join her classmates at the White Coat Ceremony, marking the official start of medical school as students receive their white coats and recite the Hippocratic Oath. 

Dr. Everardo Cobos, interim dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine, said the new class exemplifies the school’s mission to train future physicians who reflect and serve the region.

“Our students come from diverse backgrounds, but they share a common purpose: serving the people of the Rio Grande Valley,” he said. “This class is a reflection of the Valley’s potential to grow its own healthcare workforce and address the medical needs of our communities and beyond. 

For more information on the ceremony or to attend virtually, visit www.utrgv.edu/school-of-medicine/education/white-coat-ceremony.