Class Day speakers Jonathan Blake Watson and John Austin Weems. Image: Steve Gilbert
Class Day speakers Jonathan Blake Watson and John Austin Weems. Image: Steve Gilbert
Transition was the overarching theme speakers touched on at Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Dental Medicine Class Day ceremonies on a very warm May 26 on the Quad.
There were plenty of examples of the many facets of transition for graduates to contemplate, including HMS Dean Jeffrey S. Flier stepping down after nine years, greater integration of medicine and dentistry, changing demographics of medical school classes and the metamorphosis from student to physician.
Excerpts from the speakers’ remarks appear below.
Keynote Speaker Jeffrey S. Flier, HMS Dean
“Forty-four years ago, my parents and younger brother drove from the Pelham Parkway neighborhood of the Bronx to the new Mount Sinai Medical School across from Central Park to watch me graduate in Mt. Sinai’s first graduating class. They saw me deliver the student speech and knew I’d helped select the commencement speaker. I admit: I made a few mistakes that day.
“I led off with a fiery political speech. I blasted everything I saw wrong with health care and politics. Believe me, there was plenty that was wrong! What a platform I had!
“But very few there wanted to hear my views.
“But don’t worry, Class of 2016. I will not repeat the error I made in 1972 by delivering a politically charged speech today. (Though I certainly did consider it!) This is a moment to celebrate. For you and for me.
“Today we celebrate this day, our great school and all of you. Today, I do get a few minutes to share something of my hopes and dreams with you. Yes, people your parents’ age have them too.
“To the class of 2016, let me say this: You approach the future with a rare privilege. As physicians, you will enrich the lives of others. Sometimes you will give them the gift of life. You will do that in many different ways.
“You will demonstrate the gift of empathy and warmth that give patients hope when they have none. You will show your talent by caring for patients in a clinical discipline. You will make discoveries in basic, translational and population science. You will leave the comfort of home to serve families halfway across the world, where health also means access to clean water, and mosquito netting. You will shine within organizations whose critical work we know by their initials: NIH, CDC, FDA. You will lead hospitals and medical schools.
“And some of you, quite remarkably, will do all of those things.
“Forty-four years ago, when I delivered an excessively political graduation speech, I didn’t really know what lay ahead. But I knew, if still incompletely, that I had earned one of the world’s great gifts: A degree in medicine.
“Remember this day. Remember sitting under this tent when the future stretched out before you, when your teachers applauded because they knew your great work, and your unlimited potential, when your classmates hugged goodbye vowing you would be together again, when your families, filled with pride and love, celebrated what you had done and what you will do. Congratulations!”
Read the full text of Dean Flier’s remarks here.
HSDM Dean R. Bruce Donoff
“This is such a special day for all the graduates of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Congratulations to you all and to all your loved ones. We also have two Dr. Fliers graduating. One, a student, and the other, the HMS dean. I could not make these remarks without saying how important Jeff Flier has been to Harvard and to the Faculty of Medicine.
“I will remember the HSDM Class of 2016 for your involvement in organized dentistry, whether that is by being the number one student group in presenting papers at national meetings or in papers published. No small feat for one of the smallest dental schools in the nation. Also, your contributions to the new curriculum, now called Pathways, were beyond the normal call of duty. What kind of dental school has a primary care medical practice in the dental center with first- and fourth-year students and physicians and dentists seeing patients together?
“You will be great dentists and exceptional oral physicians. You have learned to appreciate that patients are unique, and by your education here, you will be doctors who understand the complex and deep relationship between oral health and the health of the whole body.
“Your achievements should make you very proud. Those who have helped you reach this day, and those who have nurtured and sustained you, share that pride. The entire HSDM community and I feel no small measure of joy and pride in your accomplishments. We look forward to your futures with justifiably high hopes. Congratulations, Class of 2016. I hope your memories of HSDM and HMS will always remain a treasured part of who you are and who you become.”
HMS Students
Hisham Nasif Yousif
“I’ve been fortunate to spend the last five years studying medicine at Harvard. Throughout my time here, I’ve been at the forefront of recruitment and mentoring efforts for applicants from marginalized communities and communities of color, two communities which intersect more often than not. To me, such work has become a calling.
“You see, I’m Black and Sudanese, but also equally Arab, and no less than that, a proud Muslim. People don’t know quite where to place me, and for a long time, I wasn’t quite sure where to place myself.
“The solution I came up with was straightforward: Building pipelines. No, I know what you’re thinking, “he’s Arab,” but I’m actually not talking about oil.
“Building a successful pipeline at Harvard means walking into a classroom and seeing yourself reflected amongst other students and faculty. It means walking into a hospital or research institution and meeting trainees, physicians and researchers from your communities who are 5, 10, and 20 years ahead of you. It’s that moment when you can look at someone and think to yourself, ‘That could be me in 10 years.’
“Today, we walk as Harvard graduates. That connects us. Binds us. So continue to learn from each other. Lean on each other. Do whatever it takes, and remain steadfast and relentless in your pursuit of justice. As graduates today, we are inheritors of tremendous opportunity and privilege. Pay it forward.
“Send the ladder down, extend your hand, and pull someone up. Let’s build these pipelines together.”
Jonathan Blake Watson and John Austin Weems
“We are here to thank the group of people that, behind our families, are most important in our medical education: patients. We will express our gratitude to one patient in particular who welcomed the two of us as her medical students.
“Mrs. M had a lightning-quick sense of humor, seemingly endless patience and a warm, inviting smile. She had been a dialysis nurse earlier in life and now required dialysis herself. She was in the hospital with complications of kidney failure when she met the two of us. She understood immediately that we had no idea what we were doing there. She dubbed us with the nicknames ‘Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum’ and set about our education.
“By acknowledging us, Mrs. M did what so many patients did for all of us graduating today: She transformed us into doctors. Rarely are the lessons so explicit.”
HSDM Student
Daniel Brein
“Sitting amongst us are talented researchers whose breakthroughs have provided insights into biological phenomena never before understood and shed light on clinical truths that will directly improve the treatment of our patients. In these rows are natural-born leaders who have taken to organized dentistry with enthusiasm, advocating for students and young professionals alike. You don’t have to search hard to find champions of public health who have somehow found the time to create, manage and maintain volunteer-based clinics that improve access to care for a number of underserved populations throughout our community.
“Now, as your classmate, I feel there is little wisdom that I can provide to help direct you down your future paths. The only thing I know with certainty is that countless uncertainties lie ahead. There will be challenges that are bound to test all of us in ways we’ve never imagined. But, if I may, there is one thing I’d like to say. One piece of advice I’d like to offer.
“Trust your instincts. Rather, continue to trust your instincts. Today, allow me to act as a mirror, reflecting back to you what I see so clearly. Your natural tendencies toward curiosity, innovation and leadership, with equal parts empathy, community and kindness, have carried you far. And while the future is full of unknowns, if you continue to trust in and listen to yourselves, nothing will be out of reach.
"So here’s to us, Class of 2016. Congratulations, good luck, and I'll see you soon.”
