Emelia LaCognata is flanked by her parents, Jennifer and Joe LaCognata, following the M. D. Class of 2029 White Coat Ceremony on Aug. 8.
LaCognata turns IMS degree, experience into a seat in M. D. class
By Bob Thomas FSU College of Medicine
Emelia LaCognata secured a seat in the College of Medicine’ s M. D. Class of 2029 through the“ early decision” application program, but her path was planned out well in advance.
LaCognata’ s love of science was already established as a 16-year old at Clearwater’ s Countryside High School when her grandmother’ s battle with breast cancer provided confirmation that a career in medicine was in her future.
“ She was in hospice at our house, so we helped take care of her,” said the now 22-year-old, who recognized the emotional and physical toll it was taking on her parents, Jennifer and Joe LaCognata.“ I would set an alarm in the middle of the night, and I would give her medication, and drain her nephrostomy bag."
“ I ' ve always known I ' ve been interested in medicine, but that was my first time giving care to a person. I just knew that it ' s where I ' ve got to be, what I ' ve got to do.”
She began her exploration of in-state, public college options by working in reverse order.
“ I looked ahead at the med schools, and I picked the undergrad based off the med school that I liked,” said LaCognata.“ I was like,‘ FSU has the mission I want, and it looks like they like to adopt their own undergrads more often [ than the other schools ].’ And then I liked the area. The IMS degree was appealing as well, because it was like pre-med already and a good pipeline, I thought.”
28 FSUMED | MED. FSU. EDU