A sunny, warm spring day, replete with chirping birds and flowers in full bloom, was a fitting backdrop for a celebration years in the making, as graduates of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine gathered with faculty, family, and friends for an in-person Class Day on the HMS Quad.
After two years of virtual graduation ceremonies during the COVID-19 pandemic—not to mention remote classes, lab closures, COVID-19 tests, and countless other disruptions—this year’s gathering on May 26 was extra special for members of the Class of 2022.
The graduates celebrated their achievements and looked to the future, while reveling in the simple pleasure of being together in person with the important people in their lives. The pandemic may not be over, but the relief was palpable, as was a sense of hope for what comes next as the graduates embark on their professional careers.
“Hope is as important now as it has ever been. Hope leads us not to a desire for normal, but toward action to achieve a better future,” said Class Day keynote speaker Joia Mukherjee, an associate professor of global health and social medicine at HMS.
Mukherjee addressed the COVID-19 pandemic and the many injustices it has revealed and deepened.
“Whatever path you take in medicine, maintain the radical notion of hope, the belief that our collective action can and must bring about change,” she told the grads.
The theme of change carried throughout the day, as HMS class moderators Raquel Sofia Sandoval and Ayotomiwa Ojo highlighted the issues of structural racism, climate change, and health care inequity that the pandemic has exposed.
They urged their classmates to “resist, rest, and reimagine”: to resist systems of oppression and create inclusive spaces; to rest and care for themselves so they can maintain the energy to carry on; and to reimagine and rebuild a more equitable health care system.
Even in the midst of a jubilant celebration, the pandemic continued to be a constant presence. It was mentioned frequently in speeches, and was visible in the masks some wore, and the ceremony was marked by a moment of silence for all of the loved ones lost to COVID-19.
A force for change
The celebration kicked off early in the day in Cambridge, where the HMS and HSDM graduates joined degree candidates from 10 other schools and Harvard College for morning exercises in the outdoor Tercentenary Theatre, adjacent to Harvard Yard.
The MD graduates lined up outside the yard, stethoscopes around their necks, chatting in bunches and taking photos in every possible combination as they waited to make their way to their seats.
As the graduates filed into the yard, they waved to family and friends lined up on the sidewalk to cheer them on. Their black and crimson robes were punctuated by brightly colored stoles, some rainbow for LGBTQ+ pride, others with Pan Asian AAPI or Latinx printed across them.
“People make fun of these robes for looking a lot like Harry Potter wizard robes, but it’s truly magical to be here,” said HMS graduate Hannah Ananda Gomes with a laugh.
Gomes, who donned a Latinx stole, is from Brazil, and her entire family was able to make the trip for graduation. She will be doing her residency in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, and said she came to HMS with a clear goal: “To help immigrants like me in the United States on a larger scale.”
With support from HMS, Gomes and two of her classmates started an organization called Contra COVID that has been providing essential information and resources to immigrants and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. It now exists in 10 states.
“What’s really, truly special about HMS is that they do everything to nurture your passions and help make your dream possible. The faculty are so, so supportive” Gomes said.
Inside Tercentenary Theatre, the graduates took their seats, jittery with excitement. A brass band in crimson blazers played a few notes from atop a large stone landing before processing to the front.
On stage, top hats and tails abounded, along with elaborate feathered hats and plenty of crimson, as speakers gathered to begin the exercises.
After lunchtime, the MD and HSDM graduates arrived back at the HMS Quad where they found seats under a large white tent, its many peaks reflecting bright sunlight in every direction.
Embracing family and friends, some bumped elbows with classmates in greeting. Large screens offered glimpses of their time as medical or dental students, as a string quartet played jaunty, upbeat music. Later, graduates congregated on the steps of Gordon Hall, standing shoulder to shoulder and grinning for a class photo.
As the proceedings began, a livestream allowed friends and family to take part in the festivities from afar. In a touching moment, the graduates rose and applauded in appreciation of those present who had helped and supported them along the way.
“It’s nice after so many years to see all the friends and people that we haven’t seen in a while,” said HMS graduate Bruce Tiu, who will be a resident in internal medicine at Stanford Health Care.
“I was very worried for a bit during medical school that we would just go off to residency without seeing everyone,” Tiu said.
“We’re really lucky that we can celebrate with our class,” agreed HMS graduate Mara Farcasanu.
Celebrate HMS/HSDM Class Day 2022
Read about this year’s Class Day graduates and ceremonies and view videos and photo galleries.
Farcasanu will head to Cambridge Health Alliance for her residency in family medicine, a specialty that she didn’t know existed until two years ago. She was attracted to family medicine for the way it allows doctors to be themselves with their patients, and build strong relationships over time.
“It’s wonderful to be somebody’s go-to person, even to answer the question of, ‘should I be worried?’ and to be able to say, ‘no’” she explained.
HMS graduate Betzamel Lopez proudly carried a small flag from the Dominican Republic, a nod to the country where she was born and raised. She will move to Florida after graduation for her residency in otolaryngology, or head and neck surgery, at the University of Miami/Jackson Health System.
Lopez said she always knew that she wanted to be a surgeon.
“I love the immediacy of surgery. There is a tumor, we take it out, and you’re cured,” she explained.
But it was during medical school that she was drawn to treating the head and neck region of the body.
“In my opinion it has the most beautiful anatomy,” she said. “There are so many holes and connections, and for patients with head and neck cancer, we do big surgeries that save their lives.”
Degrees and research
This year, HMS named 157 Doctors of Medicine, 45 of whom also earned master’s or doctoral degrees. HSDM named 37 Doctors of Medicine in Dentistry and eight Doctors of Medical Science, and awarded16 master’s degrees to its graduates.
During their medical training, graduates also conducted research on a wide array of topics, as they delved into cancer drug costs, explored better ways to model heart disease, investigated rates of melanoma among veterans, and studied the symptoms of long COVID.
As student speakers from the medical and dental schools addressed their classmates, they recalled what it was like to earn their degrees during the COVID-19 pandemic, from learning the fundamentals of dentistry over Zoom in their childhood bedrooms to anxiously awaiting updates on when they could return to campus.
“Coronavirus turned the world as we knew it upside down, forcing us to confront unpredictable change and uncertainty. Yet, being away from campus never stopped us from fighting tooth and nail for the things that drove us to medicine and dentistry,” said HSDM Class President Praveen Kumar Guntaka, who described growing up in a small village in Southern India, where the closest doctor was over two hours by bus, and dentistry didn’t exist at all.
“From social justice activism during the Black Lives Matter movement, to tackling health inequities during the global pandemic, our actions would shape these pivotal years,” Guntaka added.
“We came together through education, introspection, difficult conversations, and most importantly, through collective action,” he said.
HMS student speaker Samuel Lyon challenged his fellow doctors to always remain focused on caring for the whole person, no matter the circumstances.
“Behind every interaction is a story, a journey, a life. Even though we are headed into a business of science, technology, and art, ultimately, it’s a business of human interaction,” he said.
He offered his advice as a father of three children who served three tours in Afghanistan, calling himself the “old man” of the graduating class.
“Never forget that you’re treating the patient, but you’re healing the person,” he said.
In his Class Day remarks, HMS Dean George Q. Daley reiterated the many challenges that the graduates have faced over the course of the pandemic, but also pointed out that COVID-19 has also imparted valuable lessons.
“The pandemic has awakened you to the central importance of social determinants of health,” he said. “You’ve advocated that compassionate health care and the fruits of modern science—innovative vaccines and medications—should be accessible to everyone.”
Daley charged the graduates with continuing to strive for change in the U.S. health care system and health care systems worldwide.
“Our society desperately needs energetic, passionate minds like yours to couple scientific rigor with compassion, to wield clinical expertise to advance health equity and justice,” he told the graduates. “We need you—the next generation—to be evangelists for truth and peace.”
To close the ceremony, the graduates stood and recited the Hippocratic oath, promising to serve their patients, and affirming their commitment to medicine.
Daley offered final words of congratulations, and the students cheered. They were together, at last, and ready to take on the world.
