May 15, 2025 — They say there is no sweeter sound than a child’s laugh — that every time a baby smiles, an angel gets its wings. This statement could not hold truer for Jennifer S. Thielhelm, M.D. ’90.

Her passion for the field was sparked at the University of Florida College of Medicine. After completing a pediatrics rotation at UF Health Shands Hospital as a medical student, she felt drawn to the atmosphere of the specialty.

“I just fell in love with the kids, and I fell in love with the attendings, and I thought they were the nicest, kindest, most compassionate people,” Thielhelm said. “I wanted to be just like them.”

Growing up in Central Florida, Thielhelm had a love for sports and was a swimmer throughout adolescence. During her undergraduate studies as a pre-med student at Duke University, she was not attached to pursuing one medical specialty over another and was testing the waters. When she had an opportunity to work alongside a local sports medicine doctor who specializes in treating children, her interest was piqued.

At the College of Medicine, Thielhelm gained the skills she needed to succeed. In her fourth year, she and her classmates worked on the hospital floors with patients while being held to similar standards as the interns. It was experiences like these that aided Thielhelm in serving as co-chief resident during her third year of residency at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.

Her favorite part of serving as co-chief resident was the responsibility of setting up lectures. Now years later, her love of teaching has continued to grow. A board-certified pediatrician with Orlando Health Physician Associates, Thielhelm serves as a clinical teacher for outpatient rotations and sets up the outpatient rotations for the second- and third-year residents at Arnold Palmer Hospital, while also teaching first-year medical students at UF and teaching a three-week pediatric rotation for third-year students at Florida State University College of Medicine.

It is the loving and nurturing environment formed by Thielhelm and her staff for patients that has kept them coming back for years. Now, she’s treating the second generation — the children of the patients she once took care of.

When it came time to choose a medical school, Thielhelm felt that UF seemed like the perfect fit. She would be only a couple of hours away from her hometown and attending the same institution where her husband, who she met at Duke, was attending law school.

Years after graduating from UF College of Medicine, Thielhelm’s love for Gator Nation holds strong. She will be attending her class reunion in the fall, while also participating in the college’s commencement ceremony this spring.

Love for pediatrics runs deep in the Thielhelm household. Thielhelm’s daughter, Julia, is graduating in the spring from the UF College of Medicine and will complete a pediatrics residency at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York. Growing up, she would do her homework after school in her mother’s office before heading off to soccer practice. She loved getting to go into the clinic rooms with her mother and speak with the patients. Also, Thielhelm’s son Torin is now completing his residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital as an ENT surgeon.

Thielhelm will return to Gainesville as an honorary marshal during the medical school class commencement ceremony, where she’ll watch her daughter receive her medical degree after four years of hard work.

Later this year, she’ll return to campus for her class’s 35th reunion, where she’ll have the chance to connect with her former peers. She keeps in touch with many of them regularly, and is planning a weeklong beach vacation with 12 of her classmates.

“I feel like it’s a huge honor. I’m thrilled to be part of it, and to be especially part of it because she’s graduating,” she said. “I really feel like UF medical school is really what helped me so much.”