Cherie P. Parungo M.D. ’98

---

 

As 1998 UCLA School of Medicine class president for four years, Cherie Parungo filled the school’s most prestigious and demanding position. It’s a fitting role, as Parungo is no stranger to challenges.

Given that a significant portion of the patient population in California speaks only Spanish, Parungo arranged for medical students to receive free language classes during summer vacations. That program was so successful that she was invited to chair the introduction of Spanish into the medical school’s curriculum.

Working with two other students, Parungo reformed a program called “Introduction to Clinical Years,” designed to help students make the difficult transition from the second to third year of medical school. This included a two-day seminar of practical information to prepare students for medical ward culture. In addition, she established multiple interest groups that gather faculty, community physicians and students who share an interest in a particular discipline.

Despite the rigors of medical school, Parungo conducted research all four years, earning her the Josiah E. Brown Prize for Most Outstanding Medical Student Research, the only award given to medical students during their first three years of medical school. Her study of possible treatments for short bowel syndrome was published in 1997 and presented to the UCLA School of Medicine for her honors thesis.

Parungo received a letter of distinction for her exceptional performance in obstetrics and gynecology, as well as for exceptional performance in doctoring. She received the school’s highest honors in 1997 as the most memorable medical student to rotate through pediatric surgery in the past 10 years.

Recipient of a Regent’s Scholarship each of her four years in medical school, Parungo has also received the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association Scholarship for excellence in academic performance. After graduation, she will be at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital for residency in general surgery.

“Parungo Parungo is one of the truly superb students at UCLA. She has it all: work ethic, personality, commitment to excellence, first-rate clinical skills, good judgment, maturity and leadership.” – Dr. Gerald S. Levey, dean for the UCLA School of Medicine