{"id":10106,"date":"2018-06-05T15:17:23","date_gmt":"2018-06-05T19:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/?p=10106"},"modified":"2018-06-05T15:17:53","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T19:17:53","slug":"geisel-celebrates-77-new-md-graduates-at-class-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/2018\/geisel-celebrates-77-new-md-graduates-at-class-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Geisel Celebrates 77 New MD Graduates at Class Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Class of 2018 (Photo by Rob Strong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth\u2019s annual Class Day ceremony on June 2, faculty, staff, students, and families celebrated the accomplishments of 77 new graduates of the school\u2019s MD program.<\/p>\n

The customary celebration, held a week before Dartmouth College\u2019s commencement, took place in Spaulding Auditorium at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. In addition to receiving the hoods denoting their degrees, the graduating students also received sage advice from Dartmouth faculty, alumni, their peers, and special guest speakers.<\/p>\n

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George E. Thibault, MD, president of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation (photo by Rob Strong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Class Day address was delivered by George E. Thibault, MD, president of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. He reflected on how the practice of medicine had changed since the days of his father, a physician in a small town in New York who had a big impact upon his community.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan we enhance and benefit from all the advances in modern medicine and still retain the heart of my father\u2019s small-town practice of yesteryear?\u201d asked Thibault. \u201cThe answer is resoundingly \u2018Yes\u2019 if we daily remind ourselves of our oath and every day renew our commitment to professionalism and to our social contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dean Duane Compton addresses graduates. (Photo by Rob Strong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Duane Compton, PhD, dean of the Geisel School of Medicine, reflected on the graduates\u2019 time at the medical school, their many accomplishments, and the lessons learned in the classroom as well as from each other and in the community. He noted that faculty and staff at Geisel worked hard to provide an environment to nurture their intellectual and emotional growth and to give their \u201cinnate sense of compassion and altruism a way to express itself through medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have provided you with the agency to act on your core values to improve people\u2019s lives,\u201d said Compton. \u201cOur desire is that you use this agency to spark of lifetime filled with curiosity and to go about your life as a citizen of curiosity.\u00a0 Acting with curiosity to learn from your patients, to exchange ideas with your colleagues, to improve the systems of healthcare, and to improve the human condition.\u00a0 I hear in your words, the kernels of humility and the desire to learn that give me great hope for the future that you will build for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Student speaker Michael Lauria spoke of the need to pursue truth in medicine and not to simply accept established beliefs or dogma without examination.<\/p>\n

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Medical student speaker Michael Lauria (Photo by Rob Strong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis quest for truth is important for one additional reason, and that is its discovery relies on unwavering intellectual curiosity,\u201d said Lauria. \u201cIs this really the best way of doing things? Can we find an alternate solution? Can we find a more efficient, cheaper solution that would work just as well? Asking those questions is important, and I think this ethos can carry us through some of the tough times to come, provide us with a bearing through tumultuous waters ahead, allow us to crush residency, and really do amazing things in the future. So, stay curious, my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among award winners in the class of 2018, Shawn Li, received The William Mellen Chamberlain Memorial Prize and Dean\u2019s Medal, which is awarded to the student with the best overall record of academic achievement. Madeleine Haff received the Good Physician Award, which is selected by the graduating class as someone who best exemplifies the personal and intangible qualities of the good physician.<\/p>\n

Vincent Pellegrini, Jr. MED \u201979, the John A. Siegling Professor and Chair of the Dept. of Orthopaedics at the Medical University of South Carolina and President of the Geisel Alumni Council, congratulated the graduates and welcomed them as new alumni of the medical school.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s 77 MD graduates also include four MD-PhD and eight MD-MBA combined graduates.<\/p>\n

Geisel\u2019s Class Day is held a week earlier than Dartmouth College\u2019s Commencement in order to accommodate the earlier start dates of many of the residency programs the graduates will be entering as they continue their training at top teaching hospitals around the country.<\/p>\n

Geisel\u2019s other graduating students will receive their diplomas Sunday, June 10th in ceremonies held in conjunction with Dartmouth\u2019s Commencement.<\/p>\n

Class Day Photo Gallery*:<\/h3>\n

This slideshow requires JavaScript.<\/p>

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*All photos by Rob Strong<\/p>\n

Class Day Video:<\/h3>\n