From: DMS Digest September/October 2001

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DMS Welcomes Class of 2005

Entering Class

  • 80 first--year openings
  • 5,536 applicants
  • 50::50 ratio of men to women
  • 25% people of color and international students
  • 12% belong to racial or ethnic groups under-represented in American medicine
  • 91% are from out-of-state
  • 26 states, 6 foreign countries, and 60 undergraduate institutions represented
DMS welcomed the entering class to the world of medicine in August. A wide range of faculty and student speakers offered sage advice and unique insight into what it means to become a medical student, but all voiced a common theme:the exceptional ability to forge close bonds with faculty and fellow students is the essence of what makes Dartmouth Medical School a special place.

Andy Welch, director of admissions, opened the DMS orientation activities in Moore Hall by welcoming the class of 2005 with an impressive list of the achievements and accolades that demonstrate what a remarkable group of new students has arrived. Among this class of 80 men and women are a Fulbright scholar, seven graduate degrees holders, a valedictorian, four All-American athletes, and four Academic All-Americans, as well as, a Marine Gulf War veteran, a fire chief, more than a dozen EMTs, an ordained priest, an Air Force captain, Americorps/Vista and Peace Corps volunteers, and a deputy sheriff.

John C. Baldwin, MD, dean, expressed a deep sense of humility and personal pride in the fact that they had all chosen Dartmouth. He described DMS as a "transformative place" unlike anything they have experienced or ever will experience and encouraged them to constantly learn and discover, advising them to, "have a good time, don't work too hard, and realize that there is a lot to learn."

David W. Nierenberg, MD, associate dean for medical education, reflected on his own medical training, saying that with the pace of change in medical knowledge, it will be even harder to learn everything you needed to know in just four years than it was when he was in medical school, but DMS, he told the new arrivals, "will prepare you to be lifelong students."

Lori Arviso Alvord, MD, associate dean for student and multicultural affairs, said the byword in medicine for the decades ahead will be "wellness." "Carry the torch of wellness," she advised as she challenged the entering class to, "live wellness in their own life: get enough sleep, exercise, eat right and develop the cultural competency necessary to become a great doctor."

Paul A. Testa, DMS III, president of DMS student government, offered a student perspective and some humorous but wise counsel, noting that, "Blitzmail can sometimes serve as a substitute for a social life when you 've been studying nonstop for three days." Joseph F. O'Donnell, MD, senior advising dean, borrowed from the Aretha Franklin classic, "Respect," concluding the ceremonies with the thought that, "respect for yourself, your school, what you are learning, your classmates, the faculty, and most of all, the patients," is needed most in order to become a successful physician.

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