MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Just next door to the Pipkin building is where Memphis' first large-scale drive-thru COVID-19 testing site was created more than a year ago.
What makes that site even more special is that three of the original five medical students from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center who worked with faculty to launch that monumental testing site graduated Wednesday.
Lydia Makepeace, Robert O'Connor, and Chloe Hundman served on the frontlines of the pandemic before getting their medical degrees. They are among the first of many UT students and faculty across the state who helped battle the pandemic.
The graduates said the health crisis jumpstarted their training and futures in health care.
These three students graduated with nearly 800 other fellow classmates during in-person ceremonies that started on May 7th.