FEATURE STORY By Lacie Pierson 

The Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine Class of 2024 is “built different” from a lot of the classes before them. The members of this year’s graduating class end their medical school journey with their graduation ceremony at Marshall Health Network Arena Friday, April 26. For many of them, the end of this journey may be its own moment, but it was the start of medical school that drastically informed what kind of doctors they could be.  

The students in this year’s class, affectionately referred to as the “COVID Class,” started medical school in August 2020, while social distancing was at its peak and we were only just coming to better understand the virus that had launched caused a worldwide pandemic.  

“It was good in some ways, but it was a tough first couple of years for sure,” Mackenzie Bergeron, who will begin a neurology residency at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine this summer. “The struggles that we went through made us a little bit more adaptable and hardened us for all the things we’re going to have to go through in the future.” 

Like other institutions throughout the country, Marshall administrators had to shift gears in response to restrictions related to the pandemic.  

"More than anything, that meant normal welcoming events, like orientation workshops and picnics, turned into drive-by only occasions,” said Amy Smith, M.Ed., associate dean of student affairs at the medical school. “Things were arranged to make sure that the safety of the students was our number one priority. That meant they did not get to experience a traditional welcoming to medical school as their peers had.”

Juan Hernandez-Pelcastre, who will begin an obstetrics-gynecology residency at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., came to Huntington after completing his bachelor’s degree at Virginia Tech, near where his family lives. He said the early days of medical school were isolating, but he was still able to quickly grow roots in Huntington. 

“I love Huntington, and Marshall has been amazing,” he said. “I was never in doubt that I wouldn’t be able to have a great experience here, because there’s a great community here.” 

Hernandez-Pelcastre, who spent most of his formative years in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, said his family, many of whom weren’t native English speakers, were so crucial in forming his passion to become a doctor and build connections and care for people from all walks of life. 

It was medical students a year or two ahead of him who reached out to him and other students during that first year to help them connect with one another and the Huntington community. They kept in touch through social media groups until a group of fourth-year students organized a picnic at Ritter Park during the following summer. 

“It was a lot of fun,” Hernandez Pelcastre said. “It was those types of activities that helped us start to meet each other and how we got to know each other.” 

All of their classes were virtual during their first year. As the year went on and restrictions were lifted and vaccines became available, the Class of 2024 became more comfortable getting together.  

Mackenzie Bergeron and her husband, Seth Bergeron, who is graduating alongside her before beginning his family medicine residency at Marshall, said they first got to connect with their classmates face-to-face during an outing at a popular downtown bar toward the end of their first year. They solidified those connections when they began studying for their Step 1 exams, which take place at the end of the second year of medical school.  

“That’s where we all really fell together as a class,” Seth Bergeron said. “We were all going through the difficult process of studying for Step 1, which determines if we can move on to our third year. At that moment, we all really felt like we were connected.” 

It took until the beginning of their third year of medical school for the Class of 2024 to have a White Coat Ceremony, which is its own rite of passage for incoming medical school students. Smith said it was the first true milestone for the class.  

“It was very important for them,” she said.  

The Bergerons are graduating in the presence of their first child, who will be four months old when Seth and Mackenzie walk across the graduation stage.  

The outside forces of the pandemic that came with their medical school experience, while challenging, will give them a unique perspective when it comes to putting their medical school education into practice.  

“It feels so surreal we’re moving on to the next step,” Mackenzie Bergeron said. “All of the communities that our classmates are going to are really lucky and fortunate to be able to have the people who are in our class. It’s just a wonderful group of people. They’re all so smart and so dedicated to what they’re doing. The world is definitely benefitting from this class and the people who are in it.” 

TOP PHOTO: Mackenzie & Seth Bergeron at "drive-thru orientation."

MIDDLE PHOTO: Juan Hernandez Pelcastre at White Coat Ceremony

Date Posted: Friday, April 26, 2024