Fourth-Year Medical Students honored with induction into the Zeta Michigan Chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society

The Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at Central Michigan University recently celebrated the induction of 23 fourth-year medical students into the Zeta Michigan Chapter of the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AΩA).

Acceptance into the AΩA is one of the nation’s highest honors for medical students. It signifies a lasting commitment to professionalism, leadership, scholarship, research, and community service. Membership in the AΩA is a lifelong distinction that acknowledges a physician's dedication to the profession and art of healing. Inductees are selected through a rigorous review process based on their outstanding academic achievements and the demonstration of a deep devotion to both compassionate patient care and community service. There are more than 130 AΩA chapters at medical schools across the United States and abroad.

The 2026 inductees are William Ballew, Margaret Beyer, Claire Bova, Brianna Callahan, Drew Casey, James Chung, Kayleigh Crane, Nicholas Cusmano, Joel Dejonge, Mikelina Djekovic, Ryan Flaherty, Yousif Gariaqoza, Emily Heinrich, Matthew Holtz, Magdalena Iannello, Taryn Kilbane, Krista King, Chloe Looman, Alexia Lucas, Katherine Mesaros, Riley O’Keefe, Benjamin West and Payton Wolbert.

The induction ceremony featured keynote speaker John D. Mellinger, M.D., who has served as the MD Endowed Chair in Surgery, vice chair of the Department of Surgery, and professor and chair of General Surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield.

Mellinger spoke to the students from his heart, focusing on the motto of the AΩA which is “be worthy to serve the suffering.”  He believes this is a grounding principle and that being worthy to serve is a testament to excellence in the medical field.

“Excellence is a habit, a way of approaching our lives, and it is most enduringly manifested when that habit affects every dimension of our being; physical, emotional, relational, mental and spiritual,” Mellinger said. “It is typically only sustained over the long haul when it reflects our pursuit of all those areas together, when we are integrated or persons of integrity.  Authentic and sustainable excellence is not a unidimensional function.”

The college proudly congratulates these students on their integrity, scholarship and dedication to medical excellence. 

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The Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at Central Michigan University was founded in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, in 2010 and was named by Covenant HealthCare in 2025.  The college will soon be moving to its new home in the CMU MyMichigan Health Medical Education building on the MyMichigan Health campus in Saginaw.