Harvard Medical School -- Class Day 2017

You may all be seated. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of the graduating class of 2017, welcome to the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine Class Day Ceremony. [APPLAUSE] Good afternoon to Dean Daley, Dean Donoff, Dean Hundert, Dean Saldana, Dr. Karchmer, our fellow students, and to you, all of our family and friends who have come from far and wide to be with us on this day and to all of our friends who are watching online, thank you for all that you have done to help us get here. [APPLAUSE] My name is Grace Chao. And together with Aaron Cohen and Patrick Vaughn we have the great pleasure of serving as this year's graduation co-moderators. [APPLAUSE] This afternoon we will celebrate the accomplishments of 166 graduating medical students and 35 graduating dental students. And to list all of their accomplishments would take more than one graduation ceremony, but just to list a few, we've had classmates publish groundbreaking research in the world's leading journals, we've had friends work all over the United States and around the world on health disparities, we've had people shape health policy through new ideas and advocacy to obtaining multiple degrees in many fields and gracing the stage as Miss Massachusetts and to writing novels. We've had people in our class do all sorts of things. And I'm honored to call you all my classmates. And now I'll pass it on to Aaron. Thank you, Grace. And thank you to everyone who could be here today braving the elements. Yesterday, when we had our rehearsal, Dean Hundert came up to Grace and I and Patrick told us as co-moderators, your main job is to set a fun tone, a party atmosphere. [APPLAUSE] So in the spirit of those words and in the spirit of 2017, I think it's time for us to try to make graduation great again. [LAUGHTER] To accomplish that, I figured it would be a good start to look back on some of my finest memories here at HMS, mostly social memories. In roughly chronological order, I can start. Introduction to the Profession, colloquially known as ITP-- a little bit of work, a lot of play. Patient-Doctor 1, where sometimes all we knew to say was that must be hard for you. Daily work outs in the Vandy Gym-- no windows, plenty of questionable music choices. Pickup basketball games on the Vandy court-- broken bones, wounded friendships, learning that our bodies were not what they were in their teens. The annual first-year ski trip-- what happened to the Commodore Inn stays at the Commodore Inn. Society Olympics-- where for one day we were allowed to be competitive and learned why our curriculum is pass/fail. The second year show, which no longer exists-- where cardiology took a backseat to theater. Thank you, Dr. Saldana. Match day-- where the culmination of four years was boiled down to a single line of 12-point font and, of course, now the end of our $60,000 fourth-year vacation. [LAUGHTER] But on a more serious note, it's been the blessing to embark on this journey with all the wonderful people here today. And thanks to all the friends and families for allowing us to do this. These memories are just a few. And I'm sure each of you have your own special memories that you remember from medical school and will look back upon fondly. In between these emotional highs, we all can remember feeling the lows, feeling exhausted, uninspired, perhaps even burnt out. It's happened before and it will, of course, happen again. In those times though, I hope you reflect back and remember the emotional highs that will also, of course, happen again. It is now my pleasure to introduce Patrick Vaughn. Hi, everybody. My name is Patrick Vaughn and it is an absolute honor-- I can't even tell you how much-- to be serving as today's co-moderator for the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Welcome to all of our family and friends. And I would also like to acknowledge our loved ones who, for whatever reason, cannot be here with us today. Thank you for all that you have done. Today is a monumental day that many of us have been dreaming of for years-- the day we become doctors. I always thought that by today, I would feel more like an adult, that I would have had everything figured out and would have already made my mark on the world. In reality, I don't really feel that much different than the boy who fell asleep on the sidewalk outside or the high schooler who spelt his name wrong on ACT, which is a true story. Yet, here I stand, a very different person from then. What I have learned from this is that progress takes time and growth happens so slowly that sometimes you don't even notice it. Recall this as you move through your careers from encouraging your patients through the small steps towards well-being or as you spend years studying and researching lifesaving technology. Over the past four years, I have seen immense growth in maturity from all of you. And I know you're all going to do incredible things. And like the banner behind me says Gordon Hall, the world is waiting, and we all cannot wait to see what you all will do. In many ways, today serves as a culmination of our educational careers. Though we will no longer serve the official title as student, thankfully, I urge you all to remain lifelong learners. Remember that we still have so much knowledge to acquire and that we can learn something from every single person that we meet. We have already learned so much from so many people. And I would now like to thank a couple of people-- to our parents who taught us to stand on our own, to our professors and our mentors who taught us to become professionals, to our patients who taught us how to treat people, and to our classmates who taught us to believe in ourselves and kept us sane, to each and every one of you I want to say thank you on behalf of the class of 2017. Let's give a round of applause. [APPLAUSE] It is now my distinct honor and privilege to introduce someone I personally have learned a lot from, our first speaker of today, Sara Tejani. Sara grew up in Houston, Texas and subsequently studied at the University of Southern California where she majored in both the biological sciences and Spanish. At HSDM, Sara has pursued a number of passions, including clinical research on oral candidiasis, as well as academic research on the most effective educational tools. Sara is well known by our class as a strong speaker for patient advocacy. And perhaps her most meaningful contribution has been her compassion and kindness that she has extended to each patient and to each of us as her classmate. Sara will continue her training as a general practice resident at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration. She is a very, very good speaker, so you're all in for a treat. Her remarks are cleverly titled "the class of 2017-- an amalgam of talent." Please join me in welcoming my good friend and classmate, Dr. Sara Tejani. [APPLAUSE] Thank you, Patrick. Distinguished faculty, alumni, peers, family, and friends, thank you all so much for supporting us on this special day in our lives-- the day that we officially become doctors. To our faculty and mentors, your dedication and efforts brought us to this moment in our professional careers. And thank you to our family and friends for your encouragement throughout this journey. We could not have reached this point without you all. Now I'd like to begin by taking us back to our first moments here. Many of us described the feeling of imposter syndrome. How had we obtained admission to arguably the greatest university on earth? I remember feeling small in the grand presence of Harvard University. For me, as a five-foot, immigrant, scarf-donning Muslim woman, I felt inspired, but also mildly overwhelmed. Over these past four years after witnessing all that we have achieved together, those feelings have transformed. Some of the co-moderators have mentioned these accomplishments are already, but in our cohort of 35 students, we have a Fulbright Scholar, a runner up for Miss America, military members, first-generation Americans, first-generation doctors, entrepreneurs, artists, athletes. And specifically during our time in dental school, we have much to celebrate. We engaged in interesting, informative research projects that led to numerous publications and sparked important dialogues and our dental community. We gave back in public health efforts, both locally and globally, to ensure health provisions for all people. We treated hundreds of underserved patients at our teaching practice. We excelled in leadership roles in organized dentistry, lobbying our politicians in Massachusetts and on Capitol Hill. And, yes, our work was commended when we marched to our top choices in residency programs. Now nobody said the dental school would be easy. And that's certainly not the adjective I'd use to describe it. Managing demanding patients, refining our advanced fine motor skills, and achieving perfection however our professor expected-- none of that came naturally. But these challenges brought us closer together as we built relationships that we could count on. In fact, I think that some of the most notable lessons that we learned came not in the classroom, but in these very moments with each other. For example, I learned about collaboration when my classmates shared resources so that we could all succeed on our national boards. I learned about perseverance when my peers remarkably completed coursework despite injuries, painful medical diagnoses, and the unimaginable loss of loved ones. I learned about solidarity when our dean hosted a memorable event to show support for immigrants in a polarizing political climate. I learned about empathy when we held a special vigil to honor victims of violence, including three students who were hatefully murdered in North Carolina. And on a lighter note, I learned about happiness when my classmates provided much needed comic relief in the form of inside jokes and witty remarks over our GroupMe. I learned about trust when we practiced our first anesthesia injections using each other as guinea pigs and then we agreed to become each other's patients. And I learned about love when my classmates dated and subsequently proposed to each other. I appreciate our faculty for teaching us dentistry, but I admire my classmates for illuminating other valuable lessons. Now traditionally graduation speeches end with some words of wisdom. And I have to say, I feel somewhat underqualified to impart wisdom on a group that's taught me so much. But what I might say is that I hope that we continue to stay motivated and energized to effect the change required in our profession, whether that be through research, academia, policy, innovation, whatever our calling might be. For me personally, I hope that these efforts include diversifying our field. One can't help but notice the similar appearance of our founding fathers when perusing the portraits that dawn on our institution's walls. 2017 marks the 150th anniversary of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. I know that we've come far-- case in point-- but I hope that the next time that I return to the school that I love, I'll see our walls peppered with people from a variety of backgrounds. I've counted down the days to graduation for a while now. But this past week when my countdown reached single digits, I felt a sadness as I realized that the 35 of us now split up. But as we disperse, I know that we will greatly improve oral health outcomes for our communities and that demands celebration. We mustn't underestimate the power that we have. In his hallmark work Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes wrote-- and this was in the 1600s-- "every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond." Before we return to mining diamonds, however, I hope we will rest today to commemorate all of our achievements so far. Congratulations, we made it. [APPLAUSE] Thank you, Sara, for those wonderful words. Our next speaker Aaron Schwartz is graduating after an extended stay here at Harvard, having completed a PhD in health policy as part of the Harvard MD-PhD Program. A health economist, Aaron focuses his research on measuring health care quality and the use of unnecessary health care services. I've also personally had the great honor of knowing Aaron both as one of the best teaching fellows here at Harvard Medical School when he helped to teach our health policy course and then later as a co-student on the wards at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, soon Harvard Medical School, and will be completing his internal medicine primary care residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Please join me in welcoming Aaron to the stage. [APPLAUSE] It's taken me eight years to get used to the idea of graduating from the Harvard Medical School. Maybe it's all the marble and the columns, the majesty of this quad-- and on most other days it is quite majestic. The majesty of this quad is a reminder of what we know from our experiences here, that practicing medicine is a sacred privilege. As students, when we stepped into the hospital, even when it was 5:00 AM and we desperately needed coffee, we could sense a feeling, like we were passing through an invisible curtain into hallowed halls. We've had many transcendent experiences here-- learning in the anatomy lab, opening in abdomen in surgery, delivering a baby, sitting and talking with a dying patient about the end of life. So let's start with gratitude. First, to the people who got us to and through medical school, those families and friends, early teachers and mentors, coaches, neighbors-- it's a long list-- you taught us from the beginning, not just to read, but to love reading and, by extension, to love truth and its pursuit. You gave us knowledge and, more importantly, the sense that knowledge matters and, even more importantly, the understanding that knowledge isn't quite enough. You taught us to speak and to listen, to really listen, to care and to take care and to take risks and to take ourselves seriously, but not too seriously, to seek comfort and to give it, to apologize and to mean it, to think that we matter enough to pursue our goals. We have only sailed here because you built our ships, you calibrated our compass, and you were our port in the storms. So to the people here who made us who we are, please know this-- you formed the bedrock of who we will be as doctors. All the things we learned in medical school, every fact in our textbook, all of the pages in our library, these are just details compared to your lessons. And we are so grateful. And here at Harvard we have had some fantastic support from professors and residents who taught us, to the cafeteria workers who served us, to the deans and administrators running the place, many people were better at their jobs than they needed to be. Classmates befriended us, patients gave us the opportunity to learn from their suffering, to poke and to percuss them, to experience some of the worst and best moments of their lives, all these people share in our success here today. And we are so lucky to be so lucky. Often, we have been the right people in the right place at the right time with many opportunities that others have lacked. Had the dice rolled another way, this tent might be filled with a very different set of equally talented graduates. As we move forward, how do we pursue a life in medicine that honors these people and these experiences? Here is my hope-- substance over signaling. To explain what I mean, I need to talk about economics, which my wife tells me to do when she is having trouble sleeping. [LAUGHTER] Don't worry, I will be brief. The economist Michael Spence once had any insight. He realized that sometimes we pursue education to showcase our talents rather than to improve our skills. Acing exams, getting degrees, building a nice CV, these things take talent and they will make you look good, even if you learned nothing useful from the process. This was Spence's Signaling Model of Education, and it won him a Nobel Prize. His powerful idea has made me question-- what aspects of my own education are skill building and which are signaling? We've learned many skills on our way here, but we've also done a lot of signaling. Once we took organic chemistry. More recently, for our standardized tests, we spent countless hours memorizing facts that are accessible in seconds on our phones. I hope that our future will be a bit different. A resident once told me that the letters MD actually stand for Makes Decisions. As MDs in residency and beyond, we will make countless decisions about how to spend our time and our energy. Should I check in on that scared patient again? Should I do a research project? Should I challenge an attending about that treatment decision? Some of these tasks will be about the real substance of doctoring-- helping patients and learning to become great physicians. Some will be about looking good. I hope that we will have the wisdom to see the difference and the courage to choose substance. Yes, there will always be that next professional goal and plenty of hoops to jump through to get there, but whatever our mission is, let's not delay it too long. If we focus too much on climbing the medical hierarchy, we might forget what exactly we wanted to do when we attained the status and autonomy that we were seeking. We can start making the changes that we want to see in medicine and in ourselves today. As Harvard graduates, we are not underdogs. We can afford to look bad sometimes and to focus our efforts on what really matters. So let's use our Harvard diplomas as a safety net, a suit of armor, something that allows us to be bold, take risks, and blaze a trail. How we transform our success into a life in medicine is up to us. Today, we've earned our degrees. Tomorrow, let's keep earning them. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] Thank you, Aaron. It is now my pleasure to introduce our second medical school speaker today, Colleen Farrell. Colleen Farrell of Saratoga Springs, New York, is a graduate of Williams College, where she studied women's and gender studies and Spanish. While at HMS, she has served for three years on the student leadership committee of the Center for Primary Care. As a writer and violinist, she has also been active in the HMS Arts and Humanities Initiative. She'll pursue residency in internal medicine at New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital, with the aim of becoming a primary care physician and advocate for underserved patients. The title of her talk is "seeing our own patients' vulnerability in our own." Please join me in welcoming Colleen Farrell. [APPLAUSE] Distinguished faculty, dedicated staff, and, most importantly, loving parents and family members, thank you for all you've done to support us and transform us into doctors. Harvard Medical School Class of 2017, congratulations. It is an enormous honor to address you all today. When I was a third-year medical student, I scrubbed in on the surgery of a woman with ovarian cancer. The purpose of the surgery was to see whether her cancer had spread to other organs. The surgeon instructed me to put my hand on the patient's liver. As I ran my gloved hand over it, I felt hard knobs of cancer press against my fingertips. I realized that after the anesthesia wore off, the surgeon would have to tell her patient that the cancer had metastasized. I, however, wasn't there for that conversation. As medical students, we periodically get pulled out of the hospitals for PowerPoint presentations, group discussions, and role play scenarios. On the day of this surgery, it just so happened that I had to participate in a medical school exercise called breaking bad news. Along with each of my classmates, I was given a pretend patient's medical history-- a middle-aged woman with back pain that turned out to be due to metastatic cancer. In a mock exam room, I sat across from an actor pretending to be this patient and told her the diagnosis. It was purely a coincidence that the breaking bad news exercise coincided with the operation I observed that morning. But the fact that my attending surgeon was communicating such a serious diagnosis with her real patient as I play acted the same scenario with an actor reminded me that medical school has been a dress rehearsal for the real responsibility of medicine. When I consider that responsibility, whether it be performing surgery or telling someone life-altering news, I am struck by the vulnerability of patients. The word vulnerability comes from the Latin root "vulnus," meaning "wound." To be vulnerable means being capable of being wounded. Our patients come to us so that we may heal their wounds. But in seeking care, they open themselves to being wounded anew, both physically and emotionally. Being a patient almost always entails physical pain, uncertainty, and a loss of control. Patients let us into their stories before they can know if we will respond with compassion and understanding or if we will brush them off or make them feel ashamed. By saying loud, this hurts and I don't know what to do, patients open the possibility of sustaining further wounds. But yet, it is only through telling their stories and putting trust in others that they may be healed. In this way, vulnerability is a prerequisite for healing. When we started medical school, our faculty told us our best teachers would be our patients. I think we have a lot to learn from our patients about the power of vulnerability. Though no one says it directly, medical culture implies that vulnerability is for patients, not for doctors or medical students. It wasn't until I became a patient myself that I learned to embrace my own vulnerability. After my third year of medical school, I was diagnosed with depression. Though research published by our own classmates and faculty shows that greater than one in four medical students have the symptoms of depression, the experience itself can be painfully isolating. In my new role as a patient, I told my story. I said out loud, this hurts and I don't know what to do. It was scary, just like it's a little scary telling you this story today. But I learned that my vulnerability was rich, fertile soil for my own healing and growth, for forging more meaningful relationships, and for gaining a deeper understanding of my patients. The next stage of our training will be incredibly exciting. We will step out of this extended dress rehearsal and take on the responsibility of caring for patients. In addition to providing excellent care to our patients, many of us will make important contributions to research, health policy, global health, and social justice. But at the risk of being a downer on graduation day, we will also all face challenges. There will be the daily struggles of sleep deprivation and feeling like we just don't know enough. Many of us will deal with family illness, personal loss, and, yes, depression. We may wonder if we're cut out for the heavy responsibility of medicine. In these moments, I hope we will embrace our vulnerability and share whatever is troubling us with each other, our friends, and our families. The alternatives-- silence and isolation-- might feel safer in the moment, but in the long run, keep us from growing into our best selves. Just as importantly, I hope when our colleagues and students open up to us about their struggles, that we recognize their vulnerability for what it is, not weakness but courage. I really believe that when we take care of ourselves and each other in this way we are so much better equipped to care for our patients. Our patients will come to us with challenges far beyond what many of us will ever experience. Our patients will be wounded not just by disease, but also by trauma and neglect, marginalization, and inequality. As physicians, we will be in a unique position to see our patients' vulnerability and help transform it into healing. To do that well, we need to see that we are not fundamentally different from our patients. We are all human and, therefore, all vulnerable and that is a powerful, beautiful thing. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] Thank you, Colleen. And how about a big round of applause for all of our students speakers? [APPLAUSE] At this time, I'd like to take a moment to recognize a lot of the students who help play a role in planning a lot of the events around graduation. It's a busy time for many planning the next stage of their lives, traveling, moving, but a lot of people really stepped up to help things along. Just to name a few Sarah Deliska, Emily Gross, Morgan Hennessy, Erika Kimely, Snowy Lu, Nicola Perlman, Rachael Rosales, Ramkumar Venkateswaran, Lucy Woo, and Aaron Yo. [APPLAUSE] Another big thanks to Debbie Metcalfe, senior director of Alumni Relations, and her team for all the hard work and efforts in supporting the graduating class. [APPLAUSE] This day would not have happened without all the support of Dean Fidencio Saldana, Denise Brown, and all the staff in the Office of Student Affairs. [APPLAUSE] A very special shout out to Danya Allen who, as some of you do not know, but she is the new assistant director of student affairs and took over Carla Fujimoto who held that post for 21 years, I believe. And Danya was thrown right into this role in March and has done an admirable and graceful job. So let's give a big round of applause for Danya. [APPLAUSE] I'll now hand the mike over to Patrick Vaughn who will do the faculty awards for the dental school. Thank you, Aaron. If I could ask our three award winners to please come join me on this side of the stage. Each year, the graduating students from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine nominate and select two faculty members and one staff member to receive the Outstanding Faculty and Outstanding Staff Awards. I am truly honored to present these next three awards which were chosen on behalf of my 35 wonderful classmates. Come on up. [APPLAUSE] So our first Outstanding Faculty Award goes to Dr. Nalton Ferraro. You can come on a little closer to me, too. [LAUGHTER] Dr. Ferraro is the director of the predoctoral oral and maxillofacial surgery program. Since joining the faculty in our third, year Dr. Ferraro has completely reinvigorated the oral surgery department here. With his characteristic laugh and energetic cheerfulness, which you can see right now, he has transformed our OR from a dark, cold, sterile environment to a warm, respectful, sterile environment. He instills in his students a sense of pride for our work and a drive to perfect our surgical skills. He not only teaches us how to treat our patients, he teaches us how to treat people. Dr. Ferraro is one of the best things to happen to us during our time at HSDM and for him we are extremely grateful. He's truly one of a kind. Please join me in contract congratulating Dr. Ferraro. [APPLAUSE] Our second Outstanding Faculty Award goes to Dr. Aram Kim, who can also come closer to me now. Dr. Aram Kim is the true embodiment of excellence. Known for her warm approachability and her gentle humor, Dr. Kim has naturally turned her office into one of the most popular destinations for many students at HSDM. Regardless of her time or how busy she is, Dr. Kim never rushes a student and is always fully present to listen and guide from her infamous 3:00 AM emails to the plethora of colorful sticky notes decorating her office. It is truly an understatement to say that Dr. Kim has been an integral part of our class' success. Her kindness, her patience, and her relentless faith in our success, for all of these we are endlessly grateful to you, Dr. Kim, for believing in us every step of the way. Thank you so much, Dr. Kim. [APPLAUSE] Come on over, Mohamed. This year's Outstanding Staff Award goes to Mohamed Alaeddin. It is a completely shared sentiment by many in our class that we would not have survived our third and our fourth year of dental school without Mohamed. The dedication he has to his students is unparalleled, and it shows on a daily basis. We all felt like no matter what situation we were in, Mohamed was always there for us. He is known for his patience, his skill, and his warm approachability. The class of 2017 cannot thank Mohamed enough for his undeniable dedication to our development in both the lab and our improvement overall as people. Congratulations, Mohamed. [APPLAUSE] So next we'll have Grace come up to introduce our medical award winners. Congratulations again to the HSDM award winners. For our faculty awards, first, we would like to recognize the residents, those young physicians in training who our class has chosen to honor for their exceptional teaching skills. Their names are listed near the end of the Class Day book. To manage a full patient panel, maintain an enthusiasm for own education, and all the while leave indelible marks on medical students, our residents are quite amazing and they are our heroes. Let's give them all a round of applause. [APPLAUSE] This year we will honor one particularly outstanding resident. We've invited her to come Dr. Oluwatosin Onibokun If you could please come up when I call your name. She has been voted by our class to receive the Outstanding Resident Award. She's a senior resident at the MGH/BWH combined OB/Gyn program. Lovingly known as Tosin by many, she is widely considered a favorite. And she is known for her incredible teaching ability, even in the most stressful clinical situations. Dr. Onibokun has inspired many students to take an interest in OB/Gyn and also inspired many to pursue a career in OB/Gyn. So thank you and congratulations to you again. [APPLAUSE] And we will continue to present Harvard Medical School Class of 2017 faculty awards. As soon as we announce your name, please come to the stage. Among a distinguished and committed faculty, these men and women have all stood out as uniquely passionate and effective educators, embodying the best of what medical education can offer. First, we'd like to honor Dr. Helen Shields. Dr. Shields today is receiving the award-- yes, we can clap for her first. [APPLAUSE] Dr. Shields today is receiving the award for excellence in preclinical instruction at Harvard Medical School. She is a gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She served as the course director for the second year gastroenterology course, which is a course that universally receives outstanding reviews-- and personally was my favorite, thank you. She also serves as an associate master in the Holmes Society. Dr. Shields is one of the most passionate, innovative, and caring clinicians and educators here that we have had the good fortune to learn from. Congratulations to you, Dr. Shields. [APPLAUSE] And next we will honor Dr. Carey York-Best. Dr. York-Best today is receiving-- oh, sorry, I keep forgetting this part. [APPLAUSE] Dr. York-Best is receiving the award for excellence in clinical instruction at MGH. She is an assistant professor of OB/Gyn and reproductive biology. She also serves as the associated clerkship director for the OB/Gyn clerkship over at the MGH. She has been lauded by many students for her remarkable teaching ability and clinical skills. Congratulations to you. [APPLAUSE] Dr. Katy O'Donnell-- [APPLAUSE] Dr. O'Donnell is receiving the Award for Excellence in Clinical Instruction at Children's Hospital. Dr. O'Donnell serves as the associate clinical chief of the Children's Hospital inpatient services and is the associate clerkship director for the third year pediatrics clerkship. She stands out for her incredible ability to distill very complex problems into simple steps so that we as medical students can learn more efficiently and more and more clearly. She also has the foresight and passion to ensure that her students are always successful, no matter where they begin. Thank you very much, Dr. O'Donnell. Congratulations to you. [APPLAUSE] Dr. Beverly Woo-- [APPLAUSE] Dr. Woo today is receiving the Leonard Tow Humanism Award. Dr. Woo is a general internist and associate director and adviser of the Peabody Society. Dr. Woo has long been an inspiration to the students here at HMS. She's known by many of us as the director of Patient-Doctor 1 and is universally lauded for her compassion and dedication to both her patients and students. Congratulations to you, Dr. Woo. [APPLAUSE] And Dr. Woo, if you could stay on the stage with us. Our next awardee is Dr. Nora Osman. [APPLAUSE] Dr. Osman is receiving the Award for Excellence in Clinical Instruction at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Osman is an assistant professor of medicine and a primary care physician at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. And in addition to her patient care role, she also directs the outpatient component of the medicine clerkship. Students constantly praise Dr. Osman for a dedication to teaching and her contagious high energy. In fact, she's so highly regarded as a clinical teacher that she today is also receiving a second award for excellence in clinical instruction in primary care. Today Dr. Osman is unable to attend but did want to, quote, "pass along my deepest gratitude and warmest wishes to the graduating class and their families," unquote. Accepting the two awards for her today will be Dr. Woo. [APPLAUSE] Next we have Dr. Alex Carbo. [APPLAUSE] Dr. Carbo is receiving the award for Excellence in Clinical Instruction at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He's an assistant professor of medicine and practices as a hospitalist. Dr. Carbo also co-directs of the sub-internship in medicine at the BIDMC, which is always a very highly rated experience. Throughout his career, he has been dedicated to medical student education and today is unable to attend because he and his wife just welcomed a daughter into the world. Let's applaud again for him. [APPLAUSE] Dr. John Fromson-- [APPLAUSE] Dr. Fromson today is receiving the Award for Excellence in Clinical Instruction at Faulkner Hospital. Dr. Fromson serves as chief of psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Faulkner hospital and is vice chair of community psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He's a favorite among students and has been honored with numerous teaching awards throughout his career. Congratulations, again, to you Dr. Fromson. [APPLAUSE] Dr. David Hirsh-- [APPLAUSE] Dr. Hirsh is receiving the award for Excellence in Clinical Instruction at the Cambridge Health Alliance. Dr. Hirsh is an associate professor of medicine at HMS and is co-founder of the HMS-Cambridge integrated clerkship, a favorite PC site among our students and a major draw for people who are applying to our school. He is beloved by his students who praise him for his compassion and his incredible teaching ability. Congratulations again, Dr. Hirsh. [APPLAUSE] Continuing along-- Dr. Alexandra Chabrerie. [APPLAUSE] Dr. Chabrerie is receiving the award for Excellence in Clinical Instruction at Mount Auburn Hospital. Dr. Chabrerie is a primary care physician and director of medical student education in the department of medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital. Students widely consider Dr. Chabrerie to be an incredible teacher and mentor. Congratulations, Dr. Chabrerie. [APPLAUSE] Dr. Anthony D'Amico-- [APPLAUSE] Dr. D'Amico is receiving the award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising by a Senior Faculty Member. A professor in radiation oncology, Dr. D'Amico is known to most for his role as advisory dean and director of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Society. From providing sage career advice to Freudian psychoanalysis and insights into love and passion, Dr. D'Amico has found a way to deeply touch and impact almost every member of this community. Congratulations Dr. D'Amico. [APPLAUSE] Dr. Natasha Johnson-- [APPLAUSE] Dr. Johnson is receiving the award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising by a Junior Faculty Member. Dr. Johnson is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive biology and serves as the director for the OB/Gyn clerkship at Brigham and Women's Hospital. The OB/Gyn clerkship run by Dr. Johnson is universally praised for its impeccable organization and incredible teaching. I can personally attest to what an incredible six weeks the rotation is. Congratulations Dr. Johnson. [APPLAUSE] And last but not least, Carla Fujimoto-- [APPLAUSE] Now retired, Carla is receiving the award for the Harvard Medical School Student Life Award. Carla has been 36 years at HMS, 21 of which were spent in the Office of Student Affairs. When I asked a good friend what he thinks of when I mention Carla, he said, someone who is always there to help, someone who always brightens your day, and someone who will always get you out of trouble. While we miss her in retirement, HMS is a better place because of the years of dedication of Carla Fujimoto. Thank you, Carla. [APPLAUSE] One more round of applause for all of the award winners today. [APPLAUSE] It is now my honor and privilege to introduce the Harvard Medical School Class of 2017 commencement speaker, Dr. George Q. Daley. [APPLAUSE] George Q. Daley is the Dean of Harvard Medical School, Caroline Shields Walker professor of medicine, and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. He received his bachelor's degree from Harvard, a doctorate degree in biology from MIT, and, most importantly, his medical degree from the HST program at Harvard Medical School. Dean Daley stayed close to home, training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he served as chief resident, and followed that up with a fellowship in hematology oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital. Dean Daley is an internationally renowned stem cell researcher. He has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Association of Physicians, the American Pediatric Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Even with such academic prowess, what makes Dean Daley most impressive are his personal qualities. From his first days as dean, starting this January, he has demonstrated a commitment to our medical and dental student community. From inviting students to the Green Dragon Pub to championing issues of diversity and inclusion, Dean Daley has established himself as a role model for all of us at HMS and HSDM. It is my distinct pleasure to introduce Dean Daley on his inaugural graduation as dean of Harvard Medical School. [APPLAUSE] Thank you very much. And thank you for the invitation. I am unknown to many of the current graduates. For them, the true dean of Harvard Medical School who served brilliantly for the last nine years is Dean Jeff Flier. And I want to just take this moment to acknowledge Jeff and all of his fabulous service to Harvard Medical School. [APPLAUSE] I believe you also got to meet and interact with an interim dean, Barbra McNeil, who also served brilliantly. Thank you, Barbara. [APPLAUSE] So good afternoon to this outstanding class of 2017. A warm welcome to families, friends, loved ones, those here on the quad, and those who are joining us on live streaming. Let me recognize my esteemed colleagues, faculty members here and the fantastic deans and administrators who make up the leadership here of Harvard Medical School. It is wonderful to gather together with you as we celebrate your remarkable achievements on this day. Now graduates, just about now, I think, your parents and your friends are checking their watch and they're saying, uh, who is this guy and why am I not in Harvard Yard listening to Mark Zuckerberg? [LAUGHTER] I see some of you out there on Facebook streaming his talk. [LAUGHTER] Was that Sarah? No. I don't blame you. 26 years ago, I was sitting where you're sitting. I was sitting under this tent. It was actually a beautiful day. [LAUGHTER] Sorry to rub it in. And to make things even worse, the HMS commencement speaker that day-- Dr. Jonas Salk. I know, I know-- a legendary physician who developed the world's first polio vaccine and saved humanity from a great scourge. Exciting, right? Actually, no. Indeed, Dr. Salk was a towering figure. He changed the course of history. But as I recall, he was not a scintillating speaker. [LAUGHTER] So who am I? So I'm the new dean of Harvard Medical School. And, in fact, this is my first rodeo. [APPLAUSE] Now I have not saved humanity from a great scourge. However, I share your background. And my story is remarkably similar to many of yours. So I'm hopeful that the reflections that I'm going to share, the personal reflections on the purpose of medical education-- yours and mine-- will resonate with you in the years to come. So since becoming dean, I've been asked frequently, did you always want to be a doctor? And the answer is no. My grandfather was a physician. And growing up, my family had great reverence for doctors. But when I was in middle school, high school, and actually much of college, I did not see medicine in my future. Did I have any inkling of the path that I would take? No. But what I did have were goals, ideals, and values that served me well. I grew up in Catskill, a small town, 4,500 people in upstate rural New York. And at Catskill High School, I was inspired by outstanding teachers, many in science and English. I was thrilled when I was accepted at Harvard College and I was granted a national scholarship, which allowed me to attend. I imagined I might one day become a scholar, but I wasn't sure in what field. Now no career path is ever straight. My first exposure to research came in a freshman seminar on spiders. I terrorized-- I terrorized my roommates by conducting breeding experiments on black widows in my dorm room at night. That's when they bred. Now, however, I found many of the science classes pretty impersonal. And so I initially declared a major in philosophy. Now that detour proved to be very enlightening. And, indeed, a grounding in ethics proved valuable when I later became immersed in national debates around stem cells and gene editing of the human germline. Well, while I first declared a major in philosophy, serendipity stepped in and refocused my interest towards science. As a freshman on financial aid, I held a work study job washing dishes in a dining hall. When I returned as a sophomore, I decided to seek more engaging employment. So I got a job washing dishes in a lab. [LAUGHTER] I know, not sufficiently entrepreneurial for the millennials of today. But I was eager to learn. And within weeks, I was not only washing beakers and test tubes but I was conducting experiments. Now later after my junior year at Harvard, I shadowed a physician at the MGH and I witnessed firsthand the power of medicine to change lives. And so thereafter, it opened my eyes to the prospect of a career in medical research coupled to patient care. As a Harvard undergraduate, I was assembling all of the pieces to become a physician scientist. I was configuring a career aspiration that appended scholarship to service. And I was laying a foundation for a life rich and full of meaning and purpose. So as you, the class of 2017, reflect on all that you've accomplished in graduating today, my call to each of you is to always preserve the ideals that first drew you to medicine and the ideals that drew you to a life of service. The purpose of your medical education is to enable you to serve. Now life is all about setting goals and striving to meet them. Your goals, your guideposts are directly related to your ideals and your values. They reflect on who you are at your core. Setting ambitious goals is essential. You are embarking on your careers at a truly exciting and challenging juncture in human history. We live in an increasingly complex, chaotic, and competitive world, one that is changing at breathtaking pace. The world that you are inheriting is one in which science and biomedicine will play a central role. Harvard has trained you for this complex, chaotic, and competitive world. Harvard trains leaders. And as a leader, you have the responsibility to find solutions for the most difficult, intractable problems that confront us today. Some of you will work to curb health care costs. Some of you will innovate health care delivery. Some of you will resolve health inequities. Some of you will address our nation's primary care crisis. Some of you will thwart the spread of infectious diseases. Some of you will create and improve health care systems in under-resourced nations. And some of you will translate promising biomedical research into the clinic, pioneering new cures for our patients. Yes, the world needs you. The purpose of your medical education is to enable you to serve the world. Now the world that you think you know so well is changing as I speak to you. Indeed, there will be seismic changes in the next 10, 20, or 30 years. There's an old saw that says half of what we've taught you here in medical school will be proven wrong in the future, but the conundrum is we don't know which half. Now this is because medicine is on the brink of a sweeping transformation of the medical condition. Medical breakthroughs in the next 50 years will dwarf those of the last 1,000. The sheer volume of information that you have acquired in medical school is far greater than what I ever had to absorb. And that volume will only increase exponentially. Consequently, our mission at Harvard Medical School has been to train and prepare all of you to meet challenges and fully embrace opportunities. You arrived in our community with your own fierce passion to innovate, lead, and heal. We have strived to foster in you a zeal for lifelong learning. Your medical education must never stop. At HMS, we have endeavored earnestly to educate you to confront the complexities of modern biomedicine and modern health care policy and to deliver the most compassionate care so that you may improve and safeguard the quality and richness of human life. I can't think of any more audacious goal than to seek to transform human health and wellness in your careers or any more worthy means of service than to become a physician. But to succeed, to deliver on your potential, to realize the full purpose of your medical education and to make a difference in this world, you must infuse your life's work with the excitement and joy that comes with giving. Research at Harvard provides evidence that giving is a pathway to personal growth and lasting happiness. There is functional MRI data that gives us evidence that giving activates the same parts of the brain that are stimulated by food and sex. I want to do that research. [LAUGHTER] Indeed, altruism is hardwired in the brain. It's pleasurable. Through helping others, you'll live a happier, more productive, and more meaningful life. And it gets even better. Research indicates that living a purposeful, service-oriented life may actually increase your lifespan. Research also shows that giving money away actually makes us happier than spending it on ourselves. And that's true all over the world. Someone's clapping out there. I agree. [APPLAUSE] This is true all over the world. Even if the people giving the money are relatively poor, data from a hundred countries in a Gallup poll showed that people who donate money to charity are simply happier, whether it's poor countries or rich ones. And how happy has nothing to do with how much we give but on what we determine to be the impact of our contribution, the mere act of giving, of being generous. The feeling of making a positive contribution is what gives us happiness. Franklin Roosevelt said, happiness is not in the possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. Now human connections shape us. They give us the wherewithal to see merit and value in the present. Experiences rather than material things fulfill our psychological needs. I can't think of a profession more imbued with the opportunity for rewarding experiences than medicine. After all, medicine touches on so many aspects of a fulfilling life-- learning, puzzling, connecting, giving, giving the gift of health and even sometimes giving the gift of life itself. And research tells us that experiences define our happiness far more than the amount of money we make and spend in a lifetime. Multiple studies show that a large income and material goods do not guarantee happiness. A Princeton study revealed that once you earn about $75,000 a year, you get no measurable boost in happiness from making more money. In other words, after you accumulate a certain amount of wealth, it becomes increasingly more difficult to buy happiness. There's a Chinese saying that goes, if you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. Some of you are sleeping. [LAUGHTER] If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. But if you want happiness for a life, help somebody. [APPLAUSE] These wise words remind us that happiness is not found in material things but in service to others. Now as physicians, as scientists, remember that it is our privilege to serve others, our responsibility to ease pain and suffering, and our calling to advance health and wellness for our patients. Do not let choices about how you will serve be dictated by ambitions for financial enrichment. As a physician, you will always be employable. Instead, choose your career path based on passion and purpose. Out there today there are pioneers, inventors, healers, future leaders. What kind of world will you be leading? What kind of world can you imagine? Imagine a world where we prevent disease by editing our genetic code, our DNA. Because of our evolving knowledge of the genome and the remarkable new gene editing technology called CRISPR, we are on the path to curing diseases like sickle cell anemia and forms of deafness and blindness. Imagine a world in which we can reprogram, reverse engineer our own skin cells, growing replacement tissues in the lab to treat the ravages of injury and disease. Imagine a world where we can halt and even reverse aging. Imagine a world where we can cure cancer with better, safer drugs, therapeutics so precise they target each patient's specific abnormal genetic signature without the collateral damage that current therapies inflict. Imagine a world where we create DNA maps at birth that enable us to forecast and avert the development of disease. You can make all of these things happen. You are in the vanguard of a new generation of medical practitioners and scientists who will change the practice of medicine and the quality of human health. It's unquestionable. The world needs the best you've got to give-- your determination, your creativity, your intellect, your compassion, and your idealism. I trust that you will do well and contribute much. I have faith that we have prepared you well. With this graduation today, you may believe that your medical education is ending, but, trust me, it is just beginning. In that spirit, I want to leave you with a few questions that may help you further identify the goals and guideposts that you will need in the years to come to realize the full purpose of your lifelong medical education. How will you remain committed to a life of learning? What pursuits will give your life true meaning? How will you fulfill your potential to help and to serve? What will you do in your career and in your personal life to make the world a better place? The Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, once said, compassion is a verb. There is no greater purpose than using your medical education to improve the lives and health of others. Now soon, you will receive your diplomas, you will step across the threshold into a new life, one that will have been working on for many years. You will make the transition from Harvard Medical student to a Harvard Medical trained physician or dentist. Your friends and family will address you for the first time as doctor. And, before you know it, you will be starting your post-graduate internship programs that truly mark the threshold of your careers. Can you believe this day has arrived and doesn't it feel good? [APPLAUSE] I know a little bit about this. I remember so well sitting where you are 26 years ago, ready to receive my MD degree on this very same quadrangle. I weathered the address by Jonas Salk. And you have just weathered my first commencement address as dean-- congratulations. [APPLAUSE] But before I finish, let's all acknowledge that you didn't get to this graduation moment entirely on your own. Let's pause to consider all those who have supported you so well-- your parents, your siblings, your partners, your friends, your fellow students. Let's thank them for all their encouragement, support, and love that have been provided throughout the years. [APPLAUSE] Thank you, family and friends. I hope I've given you some questions to ponder. I wish you a life filled with the excitement of continuous learning. I wish you a life filled with the joy that comes with giving, the joy that comes with serving others. I wish you a life of purpose and meaning and sheer delight. It's an honor to celebrate this day with you. We all look forward to watching your careers flourish as you go forward to make this world a better place. Congratulations to the class of 2017. [APPLAUSE] Thank you so much, Dean Daley. I know personally and on behalf of our class, we're all very happy you are our commencement speaker. So before we award the diplomas to our graduates, we would like to remember a special student who was a member of the class of 2017, but unfortunately is not with us today. I'd like to invite Daniel Bergeconde up to the stage to share a few words. I apologize. I'm going to have to read this because I want to make it through without being overcome by emotion. As we gather here to celebrate our completion of medical school and what has passed the horizon, it is only proper to remember those we lost along the way. Terms like brilliant and genius are overused at places like Harvard. However, Eliana Hechter could aptly be described as both. Graduating magna cum laude from the University of Washington with a degree in mathematics at the age of 18 and earning a PhD as the second youngest Rhodes Scholar in history from Oxford University, her honors and awards were numerous. As if she wasn't accomplished enough, she was also a published author who wrote novels and short stories. I had the pleasure of knowing Eliana as both her teacher and her classmate. Eliana was my favorite kind of student-- dry humor, infinitely more mature than I was. She was never satisfied with an answer she didn't understand, someone I thought should be teaching the class rather than taking the class. Before class, we would sit in the HST lounge and discuss the struggles of being in our late 20's. On April 6, 2014 Eliana lost a battle with depression and took her own life. Our society stigmatizes depression and suicide, so it's only talked about in hushed voice behind closed doors. However, at places like MIT and Harvard where we're always driven to achieve more-- and as we enter the world of doctoring-- stress is ever present. Add to that life outside of work, relationships, and family, we may feel like we're barely able to keep our heads above water. It's easy to feel like we are all alone and a burden to those around us and no one would understand, but, in truth, it's just the opposite. In medicine, we're taught to never worry alone. We take this to heart when dealing with our patients, however, we rarely apply it to our personal lives. Graduating from Harvard is more than just a piece of paper and hundreds of thousands of debt, it is joining a community, one which cares deeply for its members. From your society mates to your fellow clerkship members to Franceni at the cafe to Dean Hundert, there are people who care about you. If you feel depressed, if you have a problem, if you feel like you need a laugh or just want to scream at the top of your lungs, please reach out. Reach out to your parents, reach out to your partner, your mentor, your friends, me, just reach out to someone, please. Perhaps that is the last great lesson that Eliana will teach us. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] Thank you so much Danny for your meaningful reflection. As we celebrate our graduation, we will also remember and celebrate Eliana's life. So now it's the moment we've all been waiting for. I see over there what looks like probably diplomas. It is my distinct pleasure to introduce the Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Dr. Bruce Donoff. Dr. Donoff fully embodies the bridge between our two schools. He received his DMD from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine 50 years ago in the school's 100th year and then went on to earn his MD from the Harvard Medical School as part of his residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he continued his work being named chairman in chief of the service in 1983. He has served as our dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine for over 25 years, which is incredible. In his career, he has authored numerous papers and been the recipient of some of the highest honors and awards, including the Alpha Omega Achievement Medal, an honor that he shared with Dr. Albert Einstein, which is pretty good company, if you ask me. To this day, he remains one of the most progressive minds in dental medicine, continuously advocating for the further integration of our two fields-- dentistry and medicine. But, probably, his most significant contribution has been as a teacher and as a personal mentor to many students. He even took time out of his extremely busy schedule to evaluate one of my patients who we had consulted everyone from endodontics to orofacial pain multiple times to see the patient. During this time, he demonstrated swift knowledge, as well as thoughtful care and concern. It is now my sincere honor and privilege in the school's 150th year to introduce our beloved Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Dr. Bruce Donoff. [APPLAUSE] Well, good afternoon. Congratulations to all the graduates, to their loved ones, Dean Daley, all of the faculty. This is such a special day for all the graduates at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Harvard Medical School, class of 2017. [APPLAUSE] Congratulations to you all and to all of your loved ones. Welcome to George Daley, our new dean of the faculty of medicine. George, you've hit the ground running, and I'll bet you they invite you back to give a commencement address next year. This is a very special commencement as this year marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of our school on July 17, 1867. You, all the graduates are at a major milestone of a long journey of education and training designed to permit you to help people through the discovery, application, and communication of knowledge, ability, compassion, and caring. The development of wisdom and clinical judgment through lifelong learning and further experience represents the road ahead. Each year, I have tried to associate the graduating classes with some particular event or issue in order to create a lasting memory for myself. In 1992, my first year as dean, it was my 25th reunion from HSDM. In 1998, it was the first class graduating from the four-year problem-based learning program. In 2015, it was the unbelievable record snowfall in Boston. This year I will remember you the HSDM class of 2017 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. Your sincere, deep passion for improving the lives of others, especially those with the greatest need, whether that was in community clinics, the Windsor Clinic at Cambridge Health Alliance, or helping to establish a new dental school in Rwanda. I will remember your class because it was the last class that I taught Patient-Doctor 1-- the joy of my week, as I witness neophyte doctors interview patients without much knowledge of their illnesses. It fostered learning about the person and the social determinants of health. It was your class in the celebratory year of our 150th anniversary that piloted a dental school primary care medical practice in the dental center with first- and fourth-year students and physicians and dentists seeing patients together. Our school's initiative to integrate oral health and medicine reached new heights with a day of oral health for all of the first-year medical and dental students and nurse practitioners and nursing students coming together with dental students and faculty to offer primary care services to patients at the dental school. Nelson Mandela said, quote, "it always seems impossible until it is done," end quote. And we are doing it now. This morning, President Faust conferred your degrees and welcomed you into a demanding branch of medicine. That is our mantra and that is the principle that the school was founded on. On July 17, 1867, Harvard was the first university to open a dental school as part of a university with its affiliated medical school and the first to grant the DMD degree. It also graduated the first black dentists in 1869 and 1870. And today more than ever, we maintain diversity as one of our core values. We will celebrate 150 years of being true to that legacy and we celebrate you, the class of 2017. Edward D. Churchill, a great surgeon, said in the New England Journal in 1951, the most significant trend of the 20th century is that towards cultivating the discipline of the mind needed to complement and guide surgical technology. Not every diagnosis of dental decay and gingival disease requires surgical methods. Immunization by vaccination now has its equivalent in oral health. Understanding susceptibility to dental decay based upon genetics, nutrition, economic and social status, and the use of what can be called dental immunization by remineralization, tooth protection by fluoride treatment and sealants can eliminate the use of the drill in many cases. Understanding the microbiome during infancy to childhood may lead to new treatments of the number one non-communicable disease in the world-- dental decay. Dental decay sounds insignificant, but it probably leads to more pain, more missed school days, and nutrition issues and slow development than any other childhood disease. Dental immunization represents a wonderful example of medical management of surgical disease. Ever since Australian physicians Barry Marshall and Robin Warren won a Nobel Prize in medicine in 2005 for the discovery that gastric ulcers are caused by bacteria, I have become enamored of the term. Their discovery that Helicobacter pylori was groundbreaking and opened up the study of the human microbiome. The practices of medicine and dentistry for all of you will undoubtedly be shaped by discoveries in these areas, whether the findings are related to the intestine or the oral cavity. It will take just one of you to discover how the human immune system turns these normal inhabitants into pathogens. I liken the concept of natural microbes being involved in disease with the realization in the mid-1800s that cholera could be transmitted by water, when at the time, airborne transmission of all disease was thought to be the norm. Increasingly, data shows that good oral health leads to better management of total health and reduced medical costs. Integration of oral health and primary care medicine is important. And your education with the medical students has prepared you better than most for leading this charge and change in the dental profession that we'll see changes in the model of care and changes in the value statements of dentists. When I greeted you four or five years ago, I told you that communities based on merit and passion are rare and that people who have been part of them never forget them. I said that I believed HSDM to be such a community and I hoped your time here would make you appreciate that experience, no matter where your future careers might take you. I told you that you were entering a school that does not strive to produce a uniform product but an exceptional one. Today knowing you, each an exceptional individual, I believe that our joint efforts have borne fruit. You will be a 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. So congratulations to the 35 individuals receiving the DMD degree, 7 with honors in special field, and 6 receiving a degree with general honors, 17 received the master of medical science degree and 9 the doctor medical science degree. And congratulations to all the residents and fellows receiving their certificates who will also go on to make an impact in their chosen field. But remember, we are privileged to take care of people. Treat them well, treat them kindly, and treat them with respect. Above all, treat them all equally with one high standard of care. Don't allow missions of mercy, thousands of people lined up for free dental care periodically to become the profession's scar of oral health delivery. Don't permit our growing elderly population's oral health needs from being excluded from Medicare. Just so you know, 1 in 5 Americans older than 65 do not have a single real tooth left in their mouths. 2 million emergency room visits occurred because of dental issues in 2016-- mostly pain. $1.6 billion is what those visits cost, with most treatments being pain killers. And 25% of Americans-- 81 million people-- don't have access to fluoridated water. Your achievement should make you very proud. Those who have help you reach this day and those who have nurtured and sustained you share that pride, I am sure. 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 to the class of 2017. I hope your memories of HSDM and HMS will always remain a treasured part of who you are and who you become. Be the leaders you are in transforming our health care world through science, policy, and compassionate care. Congratulations. [LAUGHTER] I think it's my honor to call up Dr. Sang Park and our senior tutors. And we will distribute diplomas, yes? Good afternoon. I'm Sang Park, Associate Dean for Dental Education in the School of Dental Medicine. On behalf of all faculty, I'd like to express how proud we are of all of you. And I'm so honored to be presenting the members of the class of 2017. Will the members of their class please rise and approach the podium to their right. [APPLAUSE] These women and men have completed four or more years of studies toward the degree of doctor of dental medicine. Assisting in the hooding today are members of the dental faculty and they are Dr. Esra Yener, Dr. Armando Pardo, Dr. Aram Kim, Dr. Sam Coffin, and Dr. Maha Almusa. Class, are you ready? You waited long enough, so I won't keep you any longer. [READING NAMES] Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in congratulating the Harvard School of Dental Medicine class of 2017. [APPLAUSE] Thank you, again, Dean Donoff for your remarks. And congratulations to you all HSDM class of 2017. It is now my honor to introduce the dean of medical education at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Ed Hundert. [APPLAUSE] Dean Hundert received his bachelor's degree in mathematics and the history of science and medicine from Yale University and has been a part of the HMS family since his time as a student here. He went on to a residency in psychiatry at McLean Hospital where he was its chief resident. He served as associate dean for student affairs from 1990 to 1997 here at HMS, during which time he received numerous teaching, mentoring, and diversity awards. And he was voted the, quote, "faculty member who did the most for the class," unquote, by Harvard Medical School graduates for not one, not two, but five different years. After serving as dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and then president of Case Western Reserve University, he returned to Harvard. In 2015, he became dean of medical education when he led the introduction of the pathways curriculum here, among many other initiatives. Dean Hundert is a beloved faculty member. One of my favorite memories of medical school is when one afternoon, sitting on the steps of Gordon Hall, I saw Dean Hundert coming out from the office going home. He saw me, stopped, sat down on the steps with me and proceeded to chat with me about his years as a medical student here and encouraged me to go into surgery, seeing that I was tying some knots over there. So it is my distinct privilege to welcome Dean Hundert to the podium to share his remarks today entitled "what is the difference between heaven and hell?" Let's give him a round of applause. [APPLAUSE] Well, thank you very much. Well, class, you did it. Give yourselves a hand. [APPLAUSE] Give yourselves a hand. Now, more importantly, I want you to stand up, turn around, and give your parents and families and teachers a hand. [APPLAUSE] I was so touched when I was asked to share a few reflections in this spot in the program where Dean Daley would usually speak, if he weren't the featured speaker here today. And I immediately thought of so many messages I'd like to share with you. As you officially become physicians and dentists today, you at once assume the joyous privilege and the arduous responsibility to care for the health and welfare of those in need. I remember being here heading into my internship feeling rather terrified by the thought that the month before I was a medical student with a somewhat ambiguous role on the team and a month after graduation, what I'd say in the hospital room would be echoed repeatedly through the extended family as what mom's doctor explained to us this afternoon about where things stand. I shared this anxiety of graduation with one of my mentors. And I wasn't especially reassured when she said, you know, Ed, you're not alone. The truth is we're all in way over our heads most of the time when we care for the sick and dying. I sought some solace from the wisdom of the ages and could only think of Mother Teresa's famous comment when she once said, "I know God wouldn't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that he didn't trust me so much." [LAUGHTER] So after trying to get myself back into the mindset of my hopes and fears that my HMS graduation, I narrowed the many messages I thought I would share with you today to just three, which, in truth, probably capture all the rest in some way. The first message is a message you'll hear over and over during your internship orientations next month and that's the admonition to never worry alone. When they tell you that, don't ever worry alone, it turns out, they really mean it. You have to realize that we are all only human. So please, please remember to ask for help from others when you need it. It's not a sign of weakness to ask for help. It's a sign of competence and compassion. This is connected to my second message, which is to remember that as important as it is to take your work in medicine seriously, it's equally important not to take yourself too seriously. This work isn't about us anyway. It's really about the patients and their families. And those are the ones who you need to take seriously, not yourself. As the great British theologian G.K. Chesterton once said, the reason angels can fly is that they take themselves lightly. The third message I want to share concerns the times you'll have-- and we all have these times-- when you'll feel inadequate to the task. There will be times when you'll wonder if you're up to this challenge of serving others. And the truth is, there are times when even the world's experts come to the conclusion that modern medicine itself is still inadequate to the problems that are facing our patients. At this podium some years ago, one of the student speakers memorably said, you enter HMS answering most questions, I don't know. And then after learning from the experts for four years, you leave answering most questions "we don't know." Today, you join the we who don't know. Though we who need to rely on others to help us figure it out on behalf of our patients. And, importantly, you joined the we who do the research so that more can be known, so that more can be done. But-- and this is my main message-- always remember that even when you can't figure out how to fix every one of your patient's problems, what you can do is give them your full attention and show them how much you care. In some philosophies they say that giving someone your full attention is the highest form of love. And I'm convinced it's the active ingredient in the care that we provide. We think of Francis Weld Peabody's famous observation that the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient. So on this auspicious day in your lives, I would like to share a story with you. It's a story about caring, about helping others. It's a story about a man who lived his whole life caring for others, helping others, making a positive difference in their lives, even when he didn't know them, even when he could expect nothing back in return. And when this man was very old, one night when he was sleeping, as the story goes, an angel was sent down. And the angel told the old man that for all he had done for his family and friends and neighbors and other people he hardly knew that he was to be granted one wish, any wish he'd like to make. The old man thought about it for a moment and realizing he didn't have much time left on this earth, he began contemplating the future. And he answered that for his wish, he'd like to see what it's like in heaven and what it's like in hell. The angel smiled and said that his wish would be granted and took him by the hand and immediately they were off through space and time until they arrived at a tremendous estate with lush gardens and beautiful trees. And soon they were in front of the door of a large mansion right in the center of the estate. They opened the door and walked through a beautifully decorated hallway and up a magnificent spiral staircase. At the top of the staircase, they faced a set of huge double doors with gorgeous brasswork and ornate carvings. The two doors then opened, revealing a dining room that was incredible with a huge polished wooden table in the middle and beautiful artwork all around. And the table was covered with platters of delicious food that filled the old man's senses with the smell of a freshly cooked festive meal. And from where he stood just inside the doorway he could also see people sitting in large, comfortable chairs all around the table. But the people he saw did not appear to be enjoying the food. In fact, they all sat silently, looking pale and pained and emaciated. Almost as if they were starving to death sitting right in front of the feast before them. The old man couldn't understand what was happening. But then he noticed that all of the people around the table had these heavy wooden sticks tied tightly to their arms so that despite their hunger and the sumptuous banquet before them, they couldn't bend their arms to get the food from the table to their mouths. And the angel said to the old man, this is what it's like in hell. The old man nodded that he understood and immediately the two were off again through space and time. Soon they arrived at their next destination, which was also a tremendous estate with lush gardens and beautiful trees. Again, in the center of the estate, they found a large mansion and when the front doors opened, they entered another beautifully decorated hallway and went up what appeared to be almost the same magnificent spiral staircase. At the top of the stairs, they again faced a set of huge double doors with ornate brasswork and carvings. And as the doors opened, the old man was surprised to see a nearly identical dining room incredible with its polished wooden table, covered with platters of delicious food. And, again, there were people sitting around the table. But, this time, they looked well-fed and well-nourished. And, in fact, they were all laughing and talking and singing as they enjoyed the sumptuous feast. And the old man looked closely at the people, and he saw that they too had heavy wooden sticks tied tightly to each of their arms so that they also could bend their elbows to get the food from their table to their mouths. But he saw that in this place, the people knew that simply by turning to the side they could feed one another. And by doing so, they could enjoy the bounty that was provided for them. And the angel explained this is what it's like in heaven. You see, old man, the angel went on, most people don't realize that heaven and hell are exactly the same place-- the very earth on which we live. The only difference between the two is that people like yourself who, during their time on this earth, have found themselves in helping others, in reaching out, and sharing with others, in caring for others. They bring to that identical circumstance the solution to the predicament that can make this earth a living hell or turn that hellish circumstance into joy, into healing, into prosperity. And so I say to each of you, our newest physicians and dentists, a class of remarkable individuals who have distinguished yourselves throughout your lives and certainly through your years with us here at HMS, not only as dedicated students of the art and science of medicine, but also as people who turn to reach out to help those who are less fortunate, to help those in need, I say to you-- no matter how much medical science you learn, no matter how much professional success you enjoy, never forget the old man's lesson in your interactions with patients and families who entrust their care to you and equally in your interactions with one another as colleagues in this wonderful profession of medicine and, indeed, in your interactions with all people anywhere and everywhere. Always remember that only by turning to one another in a spirit of compassion and caring will we transform that crazy, sometimes hellish circumstance of modern medicine and America, transform it into the living heaven on earth that American medicine can and will become thanks to people like all of you. Let me again congratulate all the families, teachers, friends, and others who have joined to share in this great occasion. But, most of all, congratulations to you, our students, who inspire me every day-- now our graduates-- joining the wonderful fellowship of HMS alumni. We, alumni, have a lot of fun together too, as I hope you will discover. I wish you all the very best of luck, health, and fulfillment in all you do. Please always remember the immortal words of Margaret Mead, who said, never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Class of 2017, you are that group of thoughtful, committed people, who by reaching out, turning, helping all of us do better will transform the lives of your patients and their families and will transform American medicine. Congratulations to all. [APPLAUSE] Thank you. So now we're going to get Dean Daley up here and Dean Saldana. This is another moment you've all been waiting for. We're going to award the MD degrees. And a little bit of background for how we do this-- as many of you know, the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine are divided into learning communities, five academic societies. And so we have the leader of each society, the Advisory Dean, come up and call them names. The other faculty advisors and staff of the society help with the hooding of the students. The routine, as you've seen it, you've come up here and walk in front of the podium and get a photo with the dean as you get your degree. The other tradition that we have here that is important to remember is that our students are very productive. They publish a lot of papers. They do a lot of other things, but they also sometimes produce children while they're here in medical school. And so we believe that there's a great tradition of bringing your kids up here on the podium if you can. And so as you get your HMS sheepskin, the other thing we do is we award for the children a little HMS lambie to go with the sheepskin. And so I'll be over here helping give those out, as well. So we go in alphabetical order, and so we start with the Walter B. Cannon Society. And with that, I'd like to invite the advisory dean of the Cannon Society, Dr. Sara Fazio. [APPLAUSE] Good afternoon. I am proud to present the graduating class of 2017 from the Walter Bradford Cannon Society. Graduates, please rise and come forward to the stage. Hooding the graduates this afternoon will be Dr. Kate Treadway, associate director and adviser, Dr. Julian Seifter, associate director and adviser, and Anne Hudson, coordinator extraordinaire of the Cannon Society. [READING NAMES] Congratulations, Cannon. [APPLAUSE] Next up, we invite all members of the William B. Castle Society to rise. The Castle students will be introduced by the advisory dean of the Castle Society, Dr. Jennifer Potter. Good afternoon, everyone. It is my distinct pleasure to call up the members of the graduating class of 2017 who are members of the Castle Society. Congratulations to all of you. Helping to hood today is my co-adviser, Dr. Dana Stearns, Dr. Ronald Arky, who is the former advisory dean and director of the Peabody Society, and the Castle Society coordinator extraordinaire, Claudia Galeas. [READING NAMES] Congratulations all of you. [APPLAUSE] Next up, would the members of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Society please rise and approach the podium. Announcing the graduates from the Oliver Wendell Holmes Society is the advisory dean of Holmes, Dr. Anthony D'Amico. Come on up. It's a great pleasure to be able to be here to confer the name of doctor for the first time on the graduates of the Oliver Wendell Holmes family. Hooding our students will be Dr. Helen Shields and Dr. Emily Oken, and our program officer, who we all know and love, Ms. Csilla Kiss, will be greeting them, as well. Let's give our hooders and Ms. Kiss a hand, please. [READING NAMES] Let's congratulate all the graduates of the Oliver Wendell Holmes family. [APPLAUSE] So next up, I would ask the graduates from the Irving London Society, the HST Program to rise and approach the podium. As you may know, this is the only society that differentiates itself by having a living named society, Irving London, still with us. We've lost Peabody, Holmes, Castle, and Cannon. And the advisory dean of the London Society HST Program is Dr. Wolfram Goessling. Good afternoon, Class of 2017. The HST students are already lining up here. And helping me with their hooding, I'd like to introduce my good colleagues and friends, Rick Mitchell, who is the associate director of the London Society and HST, and Matthew Frosch, the associate director of HST, and our HST coordinator, Patty Cunningham. It is now my pleasure to introduce to you the graduates of the Irving M. London Society of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. [READING NAMES] Congratulations to all of you, HST Class of 2017. And last but not least, I asked the graduates from the Francis Weld Peabody Society to please stand and approach the podium. Announcing the graduates from the Peabody Society will be the Peabody Advisory Dean, Dr. Bernard Chang. Good afternoon. It is my distinct privilege to be able to introduce to you the class of 2017 graduates from the Francis Weld Peabody Society. Hooding our graduates, our senior associate director, Dr. Beverly Woo, Associate Director Dr. Susan Pauker, Associate Director Terry Maratos-Flier, our program coordinator, Lisa Derendorf, and the inaugural and founding head of the Francis Weld Peabody Society, Dr. Ronald Arky. [READING NAMES] Congratulations, Peabody Society. And let's have one more hand for the class of 2017. [APPLAUSE] Congratulations. Congratulations, now that you are all alums of Harvard Medical and Harvard Dental School, we would like to have a few words from Dr. AW Karchmer from the Alumni Council. I am honored and privileged to greet you on behalf of the Alumni Association. I want to begin by offering congratulations personally and on behalf of the association to the classes of 2017 at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. I realize that you haven't had your oath administered yet. And I fear that if I take too long, people will began to drop from hypothermia and you will be called to service before you're officially sworn in. So I will be brief. I have a couple of messages. One, I want to welcome you to the Alumni Association. I want to encourage you to maintain the connections between one another that you have established here. I want to encourage you to maintain your connections with the schools, and I want to invite you and encourage you to look to your schools as a source of lifelong education as you go forth today. The other message I want to give you has to do with the transitions that you're going through from student, student-teacher, to caregiver and teacher. And I just want to get this message that was given to me by Dr. Daniel Federman, who is one of the renowned faculty at Harvard Medical School. And Dan said, as you work with others providing care and teaching, think out loud, keep it simple, and never miss a chance to be kind. And with that, congratulations, again. Welcome, alumni, from the Harvard Alumni Association. Godspeed, and good luck to you and future success. And to complete the afternoon, I would ask all of the graduates to stand and any physicians or dentists who wish to reaffirm the oath. Since the time of Hippocrates over 2,000 years ago, medical practitioners have taken an oath to uphold the principles of the vocation to which they dedicate themselves. In setting forth these principles, the oath serves both as a contract with the community and as an affirmation of the deep commitment to the profession. Today, Class of 2017, you stand before family, friends, teachers, and colleagues, poised to join a rich tradition of discovery and healing. Being mindful of the debt you owe to the mentorship of those who came before you while recognizing that your work will inform the practices of those who follow, you have created an oath drawing on elements both ancient and recent. I now invite you, as a class, to articulate the ideals and principles that will guide you in your journey as physicians and dentists. Class, I swear to fulfill this covenant. I pledge to use my whole spirit, knowledge, and skills to serve my patients. I will strive to cure wherever possible, to heal to the best of my abilities, and take comfort always. I will constantly challenge my biases and assumptions so that I can provide the best care to patients, regardless of color, creed, class, gender, or nationality. I will listen to and honor my patients' stories by protecting their privacy and promoting their interests as they define them. I pledge to serve my community. I will recognize the richness that others add to my life. I will be kind. The principles of justice and equity will guide my actions, and I will work to combat not only the biological but also the sociopolitical threats to health, especially for those with the least power to advocate for themselves. I will honor my teachers who have nurtured my development. I pledge to avoid complacency with my education, to constantly advance my understanding, and to help others to do the same. I will remember that knowledge is only a tool. And in making new discoveries, I shall never use people as a means to an end. Finally, I will remember to nurture myself so I can be at my best to nurture others. In doing so, I will help create a universal culture of unconditional support and encouragement. From this day forward, I commit to this oath joyfully, freely, and upon my honor. To the class of 2017, congratulations. Go forth to heal, and enjoy the evening. [APPLAUSE]

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Published: Fri May 26 2017