Medical student Alizabeth Weber smiles as she receives her stethoscope during a ceremony at the Jundt Art Center & Museum on the Gonzaga campus on Tuesday, August 23, 2016. She is part of the first UW School of Medicine class at Gonzaga. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Sixty medical students in the inaugural class of a collaboration between the University of Washington and Gonzaga University received their first stethoscopes in a special ceremony Tuesday night.

The ceremony marked the beginning of their medical studies, but it was much like a graduation ceremony: Each student was called forward to shake hands with local doctors, and some students couldn’t resist flinging up their hands and cheering when their names were called.

John Goodman, a graduate of Gonzga Prep, Spokane Falls Community College and Eastern Washington University, was one of those called. He requested Spokane as the place where he wanted to attend medical school.

“This is my home,” he said. “A huge part of who I am is because of this city.”

He attended SFCC to become a radiation technician, but two of his instructors encouraged him to consider medical school. After his mother died of lung cancer two years ago, he decided he wanted to be an oncologist.

“It’s a difficult field to be a part of, but I keep coming back,” he said/Nina Culver, SR. More here (subscription).