For Release: June 21, 2004
Contact: DMS Communications(603) 650-1492

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New Graduates Honored at Class Day 2004

HANOVER, NH - Under skies as bright as the graduates' futures, Dartmouth Medical School's class of 2004 received their hoods with some sage advice at this year's Class Day. DMS Dean Stephen P. Spielberg, leading the ceremony for the first time, welcomed the students' family, friends and faculty before introducing the keynote speaker, Dr. Judah Folkman of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital. After touching on Folkman's extensive body of research, Spielberg introduced him as a "model physician, scientist, teacher and true contributor to the cause of medicine in our country."

Folkman told the students to "find a good mentor early so that you can become a good mentor later," and urged them to acknowledge the education they will receive from their patients, whom he referred to as the ultimate teachers. He discussed several new technologies and therapies in health care, pointing out that this class will be the first medical class in history to prescribe drugs to inhibit angiogenesis, a field he established that investigates the formation of blood vessels and holds promise in the fight against tumors and cancer. Folkman also advised the master's and doctoral researchers "to continue to persist and persevere, because it is you who will arm your fellow clinicians with new ways to relieve suffering and with an increased understanding of the scientific basis of medicine."

Gary Maslow spoke on behalf of his fellow graduating medical students. Discussing the appropriate attire for a medical professional, he pointed out, "It is what is inside the white coat that counts - namely ourselves, all of our experiences, what we have learned here on these hallowed grounds." He also praised his classmates by quoting a letter he received from a former patient's family, encouraging them to "continue on - you're doing a great job!"

Addressing the audience that included her father, children and grandchildren, graduate student speaker Mardi Crane-Godreau discussed the pride she felt in her fellow graduates and referred to this as "an exciting time to be involved in medicine and the science on which our methods are founded." She also voiced her conviction that, despite the several challenges that include an aging population, pressure to reduce the cost of medical care, and shrinking federal budgets to fund research, DMS has prepared them to meet and overcome these obstacles.

Student class marshals Ian Pitha-Rowe, Alexander Thorngren and Andrew Smith then led classmates to the stage to receive their hoods. Thirty-two students received a Master of Public Health. In life sciences, 27 received a PhD and two master's. In the evaluative clinical sciences, 23 students obtained degrees: one PhD and 22 master's. Forty-nine students earned an MD and an additional 14 Brown-Dartmouth students received degrees in May at Brown University. From here, the Dartmouth medical students will continue their training in generalist and specialty areas across the nation; eight of them will remain in New Hampshire to train at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

In a celebration filled with allusions to the future of medicine and the technological breakthroughs advancing practice, the medical students concluded the 2004 Class Day ceremony by reciting the Hippocratic Oath. The 2,500 year-old vow symbolizes that while the technology of medicine continues to evolve, the physicians' commitment to their patients will never change.