The 2003 class of osteopathic physicians, physician assistants, scientists and public health professionals will graduate from the University of North Texas Health Science Center May 17 during its 30th commencement exercises.

The ceremony will be held at 1 pm, Saturday, May 17, at Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium, 3401 W. Lancaster Ave. in Fort Worth.

U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Daniel Perugini, DO, will give the commencement address. He now serves as the commanding general of Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and of the Great Plains Regional Medical Command, which cares for military families in seven states. During the ceremony, Perugini will receive the Founders’ Medal from the health science center, its highest honor.

The graduating class includes 108 from the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, 19 from the Physician Assistant Studies Program, 43 from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and 34 from the School of Public Health.

This year marks the first time that physician assistants graduating from the health science center will receive master’s degrees. The degree was elevated from a bachelor’s degree to a master's level program in 1999.

The health science center was founded in 1970 as the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine and graduated its first physicians in 1974. Today, the University of North Texas Health Science Center is an academic medical center with nearly 1,000 students in three graduate schools.

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