Hurricane Ike class set to graduate

About 200 medical students from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will graduate Saturday, June 2.

In September 2008, the class had just started school when Hurricane Ike hit the area and caused them to miss about a month's worth of school. One of the students, Michael Leasure, said in a university press release, "I thought maybe that I would wind up finishing up school somewhere else, but I never lost my faith in UTMB."

UTMB School of Medicine Interim Dean Dr. Donald Prough said in the release that he is proud of the students who will be graduating Saturday. "Medical school can be stressful enough, but these students had to also contend with a hurricane. And they dealt with it with aplomb."

Leasure said in the release that he was fortunate compared to many of his classmates, some of whom lost almost everything in the storm.

Dr. Jennifer Arnold, star of the TV show "The Little Couple," will deliver the commencement ceremony keynote address. Arnold is the medical director of Texas Children's Hospital's Pediatric Simulation Center and is also a Baylor College of Medicine assistant professor of pediatrics. The graduating students requested that Arnold speak because she has faced severe challenges as well in her effort to become a doctor. Born with a genetic mutation that results in abnormal collagen formation, Arnold has experienced orthopedic problems as well as stunted growth.

The ceremony will take place at the Moody Gardens Convention Center, located at 1 Hope Blvd. in Galveston. Arnold will deliver her address around 10:30 a.m.