Carle Illinois College of Medicine

CI MED Class of 2030 Begins Its Journey to Transform Healthcare

7/2/2026 Beth Hart

Carle Illinois College of Medicine's Class of 2030 celebrated their White Coat Ceremony, marking their entry into the medical profession and the start of their journey as Physician Innovators.

Written by Beth Hart

The members of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine Class of 2030 pose with Dean Mark Cohen (center, first row), at the I Hotel and Conference Center.
The members of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine Class of 2030 were welcomed by Dean Mark Cohen (center, first row), at the traditoinal White Coat Ceremony at the I Hotel and Conference Center on July 6, 2026.

Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CI MED) has welcomed 64 new Physician Innovators who will train to become the healthcare leaders of the future. The Class of 2030 started their medical journey with the traditional White Coat ceremony on Monday, July 6, 2026.

Through CI MED’s engineering-informed curriculum, the aspiring MDs will prepare to deliver exceptional patient care while also researching and developing new solutions to address the most pressing challenges in healthcare

“We are incredibly excited to welcome the new medical school Class of 2030. This outstanding group of aspiring clinicians is among the top students nationwide, with the largest number coming this year from right here at U. of I.,” CI MED Dean Mark Cohen said. “We are truly honored to welcome our ninth class of Physician Innovators to our CI MED community. With such impressive backgrounds and unique skill sets, these new medical students will begin their medical careers here in Urbana-Champaign and have the opportunity to create their own impact on the patients they will care for and our broader healthcare community. I am truly inspired to see all they will accomplish during their time here at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Welcome, Class of 2030, we are so thrilled you are here!” he said.

Class of 2030 by the numbers:

  • 64 New Physician Innovators in training
  • 52% women in medicine
  • 56% engineers; 78% of those are bioengineers
  • 23% with advanced degrees (master’s degree or higher), including 2 PhDs
  • 18 states represented; 17 students from Illinois
  • 38 universities represented, 24 different undergraduate majors, including eight students with degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • 15 languages spoken (English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Hindi, Korean, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Thai (Laotian), Urdu, "other”)
Class of 2030 members celebrated their traditional White Coat Ceremony with family and friends on July 6, 2026, at the I Hotel and Conference Center.
<em>Dr. Victor Stams (left) presented new class members with  Healthmaker Coins, giving them access to innovation spaces on the U. of I.'s Urbana-Champaign campus.</em>
Dr. Victor Stams (right) presented new class members with Healthmaker Coins that provide Physician Innovators a restricted endowment of $10,000 to fuel research, innovation, and prototyping of new health solutions.

Training at the world’s first engineering-based medical school means early clinical immersion –– seeing patients within the first weeks of medical school. The Class of 2030 is spending its first week becoming oriented to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, the medical profession, and CI MED’s research and innovation culture.

Carle Illinois College of Medicine was founded in 2015 as a partnership between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Carle Health. Carle Illinois is now home to more than 250 students and more than 750 faculty members.

Editor's note: Watch the recording of the Class of 2030 White Coat Ceremony.

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This story was published July 2, 2026.