{"id":35979,"date":"2026-05-11T15:59:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T19:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/?p=35979"},"modified":"2026-05-12T16:37:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:37:59","slug":"geisel-school-of-medicine-celebrates-medical-student-class-of-2026-at-investiture-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/2026\/geisel-school-of-medicine-celebrates-medical-student-class-of-2026-at-investiture-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Geisel School of Medicine Celebrates Medical Student Class of 2026 at Investiture Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/iframe><\/span><\/body><\/html><\/p>\nDartmouth\u2019s Geisel School of Medicine celebrated the MD Class of 2026 during the school\u2019s Investiture ceremony on Saturday, May 9, when 94 medical students received their Doctor of Medicine.<\/p>\nAfter welcoming family and friends to the ceremony and recognizing participating faculty and guests, including Geisel\u2019s Incoming Dean Jennifer Hunt, MD, Steven Leach, MD, interim dean of the medical school, introduced keynote speaker Odette Harris, MD, D\u201991, a member of Dartmouth\u2019s Board of Trustees.<\/p>\nHarris, an internationally recognized authority on traumatic brain injury, is the Paralyzed Veterans of America Endowed Professor of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine, professor of Neurosurgery, and vice chair for Diversity at Stanford University School of Medicine.<\/p>\nAfter congratulating the Class of 2026 on their accomplishments, she talked about the deep kinship she felt with them, her experience as an immigrant as well as the dream and deeply invested commitment her Jamaican parents held for their family to become Americans, and the importance of honoring individual dreams and the collective journey.<\/p>\n\u201cIt is that dream of my parents that I stand here fulfilling,\u201d she said. \u201cThis day, this occasion respects and honors not only your dreams but your journey. My journey was one from immigrant to American to academic medicine. Your journey is now at a pivotal point.\u201d<\/p>\nIn closing, Harris said, \u201cToday, you are becoming doctors. This is an incredible honor. And although we gather here today in awe of that accomplishment, I hope that you also hold gratitude. Gratitude that extends to all who have taken the time to come and to celebrate this moment, those who have supported you, who have held you, who have guided you all along your journey. So today I urge you to celebrate your accomplishments and to thank those who have allowed your dreams.\u201d<\/p>\nMD Investiture Ceremony Photo Gallery:<\/strong><\/p>\nThis slideshow requires JavaScript.<\/p><div id=\"gallery-35979-1-slideshow\" class=\"jetpack-slideshow-window jetpack-slideshow jetpack-slideshow-black\" data-trans=\"fade\" data-autostart=\"1\" data-gallery=\"[{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-1.jpg","id":"35989","title":"2026 MD Investiture","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-2.jpg","id":"35990","title":"Untitled-2","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-4.jpg","id":"35991","title":"Untitled-4","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-5.jpg","id":"35992","title":"Untitled-5","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-6.jpg","id":"35993","title":"Untitled-6","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-7.jpg","id":"35994","title":"Untitled-7","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-8.jpg","id":"35995","title":"Untitled-8","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-9.jpg","id":"35996","title":"Untitled-9","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-10.jpg","id":"35997","title":"Untitled-10","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-11.jpg","id":"35998","title":"Untitled-11","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-12.jpg","id":"35999","title":"Untitled-12","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-15.jpg","id":"36000","title":"Untitled-15","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-13.jpg","id":"36002","title":"Untitled-13","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"},{"src":"https:\\\/\\\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Untitled-14.jpg","id":"36001","title":"Untitled-14","alt":"","caption":"","itemprop":"image"}]\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\"><\/div>\nChosen by fellow students, class-speaker Helen Thomason MED \u201926, also this year\u2019s recipient of the Dean\u2019s Leadership Award, shared heartfelt observations about the medical school experience.<\/p>\n\u201cLike every good Dartmouth speech, I am going to talk about a hike\u2014one I took with classmates,\u201d she said. \u201cWe hiked the smallest of the 4,000 footers while snow and ice were still on the ground, but we were prepared.\u201d She had new spikes.<\/p>\nThomason described how, when her spikes failed, she watched her friends Taylor and Paulita hike farther ahead as she slipped and slid down the mountain, \u201cI decided sledding on my bottom was the only option to make it down the mountain.\u201d<\/p>\nSwinging her hiking poles in the air, Thomason dropped to the snow. Gaining speed and screaming as she plowed down the mountain, \u201cI heard Paulita calmly yelling, \u2018you are okay, you are okay\u2019 as she placed herself in my path and tackled me to a stop. Indeed, I was okay.<\/p>\n\u201cThere were many times in medical school when it felt like I was barreling down a mountain, not sure how to slow down. Like Paulita on that trail, people jumped to catch me more times than I can count.<\/p>\n\u201cThe pull toward something greater than ourselves\u00a0is what brought us to the bottom of this mountain\u2014ready, together.\u201d<\/p>\nIn his closing remarks, Interim Dean Leach mentioned his deeply held belief that medicine is a team effort\u2014an intense, demanding, sometimes humbling experience that nobody gets through alone\u2014and expressed his sincere appreciation for the sacrifices and support of the graduates\u2019 families and friends.<\/p>\nWith apologies to Hippocrates and his four humours\u2014blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm, Leach left the new physicians with four \u201cmore ethereal\u201d humours to carry into their careers: compassion, curiosity, humility, and gratitude.<\/p>\nHe described compassion as more than empathy, calling it an active willingness to understand and relieve suffering, an intention which is at the very heart of being a physician. On curiosity, which he called \u201cthe raw material that fuels discovery,\u201d he drew on the wisdom of William Osler, encouraging graduates to be as curious about their patients as individuals as they are about disease itself.<\/p>\nFor humility, he reminded graduates to hold their certainties loosely, to remain open to being wrong and what that experience may teach them. And on gratitude, he suggested that it is the physician's own gratitude, not only the patient\u2019s that also sustains a life of fulfillment in medicine. \u201c\u2026We are the lucky ones. We are the ones who get to take care of folks. We are the ones who get to discover new knowledge, and who get to discover the miracle that resides in each patient we encounter.\u201d<\/p>\nHe closed by reminding graduates to carry these four humours with them, not as abstract ideals, but as daily practice. \u201cOn the hardest days, when you are tired and uncertain and the work feels impossible, return to compassion, return to curiosity, return to humility, and return to gratitude. They will not let you down as I know you will not let your patients down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIf you missed the MD Investiture Ceremony, you may watch it here:<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Class of 2026 Medical Student Investiture Ceremony\" width=\"740\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2bbdFjApSpc?start=235&feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\nYou can also download the <a href=\"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/2026-Geisel-Student-Investiture-Program-rdfinalrev_rev.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">event program here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400\">Highlights from Friday\u2019s Faculty and Student Awards ceremony:<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe William Mellen Chamberlain Memorial Prize:<\/strong> Vincent Busque MED \u201926\u2014given each year to a member of the graduating class, The William Mellen Chamberlain Memorial Prize recognizes the medical student with the best overall record of achievement throughout medical school.<\/p>\nThe <\/strong>Good Physician Award:<\/strong> Titilayo Mabogunje MED \u201926\u2014given annually, the Good Physician Award, recognizes a member of the graduating class who best exemplifies the personal and intangible qualities of caring and empathy of the good physician.<\/p>\nPublic Health Award:<\/strong>\u00a0 James Feng MED \u201926\u2014received the Excellence in Public Health Award from the United States Public Health Service\u2019s Physicians Professional Committee in recognition of his contribution to public health.<\/p>\nDr. Ann J. Davis Faculty Award:<\/strong>\u00a0 For his dedication to making a meaningful difference in the medical student experience at Geisel, Matthew Duncan MED \u201901, assistant professor of psychiatry and of medical education received the Dr. Ann J. Davis Faculty Award.<\/p>\nA full list of honorees is available in the <a href=\"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/2026-Geisel-Awards-Ceremony-Program-rdfinal_rev.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Awards Ceremony Program<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you missed the 2026 Medical Student and Faculty Awards Ceremony, watch the video here:<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Class of 2026 Medical Student and Faculty Awards Ceremony\" width=\"740\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ru3d0wT_NL4?start=135&feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dartmouth\u2019s Geisel School of Medicine celebrated the MD Class of 2026 during the school\u2019s Investiture ceremony on Saturday, May 9, when 94 medical students received their Doctor of Medicine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[287,1346,1347],"class_list":["post-35979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-class-day","tag-investiture","tag-md-class-of-2026","author-12"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/MD-class2026-nc1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4r3h1-9mj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35979"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36014,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35979\/revisions\/36014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}