April 9, 2026 — For first-year medical students, anatomy is often compared to “drinking from a fire hose.” The sheer amount of information and the speed at which they must learn is daunting. Having a good teacher makes all the difference.

Kyle E. Rarey, Ph.D., who taught anatomy at the University of Florida College of Medicine for more than 40 years before retiring in 2025, approached this experience with passion and empathy, always going the extra mile for his students. His legacy is honored annually through the Award of Excellence in the Anatomical Sciences, which this year was awarded to two members of Rarey’s final cohort of students.

Established in 2017, the award is a prestigious recognition that motivates students to excel and contribute to the field. Recipients are selected through a holistic review, and students are nominated for qualities such as teamwork, innovation and passion.

“The recipients are exemplary students who find a spiritual home in anatomy and really develop a passion for it,” said Daniel Topping, M.D., a clinical associate professor in the UF College of Medicine Department of Physiology and Aging. “They excel not just in anatomy but in the clinical world.”

Second-year medical students Suzanne Sharpe and Jamie Wilson received the 2026 awards at a ceremony earlier this spring at the medical anatomy laboratory.

Sharpe, who grew up in Orlando, chose to pursue medicine because she enjoys working with a dedicated team toward a shared purpose and finds fulfillment in seeing the direct impact of physicians’ efforts.

“I think Dr. Rarey, as well as a lot of other anatomy faculty, really exemplify remembering why we’re here,” Sharpe said. “Learn everything you can from the people in front of you, so you can give that back to the next person.”

She said Rarey’s passion for anatomical sciences made the course engaging and collaborative, and she was pleasantly surprised by the experience and how willing everyone was to learn together. One of her main takeaways from Rarey’s teaching was that while there will often be long, challenging days for health care teams, the difficulties patients and their loved ones experience can be even more strenuous, and it’s worth helping them in any way you can.

The trust of donors who chose to give their bodies to anatomical education also made the experience meaningful for Sharpe and her classmates.

“It definitely gives a greater gravity to the situation,” she said. “These people believed in us. It’s grounding, a reminder of why we are here.”

For Wilson, Rarey’s lessons were engaging, as he often used visual explanations to help the deluge of information stick. He also emphasized the grit and perseverance required at every step of medical school and the need to push through these trials and learn from them.

“In one of Dr. Rarey’s first lectures, he was telling us about the vasculature of the human body, and he demonstrated by having one of the students stand on the table and show us where each one of the vessels we were talking about was,” Wilson said. “And he gave a good overview of it, with his style of lecturing. Keeping to the broad strokes and keeping people involved really helped that information stick.”

Born in Florida, but having spent half of his childhood in the Midwest, Wilson was inspired to enter the medical field by his parents, both of whom were nurses. Growing up, he loved working with his hands on engines and models, and he believes that a career in medicine will allow him to care for individuals directly and work with his hands, perhaps as a surgeon.

He said as he progresses in his career, he hopes to remember that patients place their bodies and minds in their doctor’s hands — a responsibility that should not be taken lightly.

“Anatomy has taught me to hold the patients I’ve learned from close to my heart, and with high esteem,” Wilson said. “These donors serve as an initial learning event, and we carry these lessons forward into future patient interactions.”