The Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine celebrated the achievements of the graduating Class of 2026 during its annual Commencement Awards Ceremony, recognizing outstanding students for excellence in academics, research, leadership, service and clinical care ahead of commencement weekend.
The ceremony honored award recipients across academic departments, clinical disciplines and distinguished student categories while also celebrating the class’s impressive 98 percent residency placement rate.
“This weekend is all about our graduates,” said Kenneth Johnson, D.O., vice president for health affairs at Ohio University. “The Class of 2026 has given us so much to celebrate, from exceptional academic achievement to extraordinary match results and a deep commitment to serving patients and communities.”
“We are incredibly proud of the compassion, professionalism and excellence demonstrated by this class,” said Interim Senior Dean Jennifer Gwilym, D.O. (‘03).
Departmental award recipients included:
Core Discipline Award recipients included:
Distinguished Student Award recipients included:
Kirkland Award for Professionalism — Winston Torres
Clinical Site Outstanding Student Award recipients included:
The ceremony also recognized students receiving major scholarship honors:
Recipients of the Senior Dean’s Endowed Scholarship were:
The Osteopathic Leadership and Service Award was presented to Jonathan Peters and included a $25,000 scholarship to support his medical education.
In addition, Micaela Abbomerato and Sean Diment were recognized as recipients of the National Health Service Corps Scholarship, supporting future service in underserved communities.
The ceremony concluded with recognition of the families, spouses and loved ones who supported students throughout medical school, including presentation of the Donna Jones Moritsugu Memorial Award to Chelsea Bray for her unwavering support of her partner during medical school training.
Medical school schedules are notoriously demanding, so it might be surprising that Nick Shonkwiler spends his breaks between study sessions building software. Shonkwiler, a second-year medical student on the Heritage College’s Dublin campus, recently launched iArtsy — a web app that prompts users to complete a quick daily sketch.
Sean Diment is an example of a student who goes all in at medical school.
Inspired by her primary care physician to pursue a career in medicine, graduate Nina Patel is about to realize her dream.