Members of the School of Medicine’s incoming class flash the "V" sign, for Vanderbilt, following Wednesday’s White Coat Ceremony.
Photo by Dana Johnson
Back to School '06: Medical school’s new class starts educational journey
Dean Steven Gabbe, M.D., talks with first-year medical students Evan Silverton and Eve Henry during Monday’s luncheon with faculty advisers.
Photo by Dana Johnson
Sue Chern is all smiles as she is introduced to her fellow medical school classmates during the first-year orientation in Light Hall Monday morning.
Photo by Dana Johnson
Incoming students make a splash at the home of Dean Steven Gabbe, M.D.
Photo by Anne Rayner
For each of the 105 incoming Vanderbilt University School of Medicine students attending Monday’s first-year orientation there were 43 persons who were not accepted.
Expectations are high for the Class of 2010, which boasts an average MCAT score of 11.3 and a collective 3.76 GPA.
“There were 44 applications for every position in this class, so, for the seat that you fill, there were 43 others who would have liked that seat,” said Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Harry Jacobson, M.D. “You are such a great class you could have gone just about anywhere.
“We have an awesome responsibility of taking some of this country's finest young undergraduates and making them into Vanderbilt doctors. The field you have chosen is the most demanding, I think, that you could possibly choose. It can be remarkably intolerant of carelessness, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is about the most rewarding profession you could ever choose.”
Their predecessors include founding dean and architect Canby Robinson, M.D., the visionary responsible for three of the country's top medical schools (Washington University in St. Louis and Cornell in addition to Vanderbilt), and two Nobel laureates, Earl Sutherland, M.D., and Stanley Cohen, Ph.D.
“Every day since I have been here I meet a member of our Vanderbilt team, or I learn about something we are doing, that makes me even happier to be here, and today is no exception,” said Dean Steven Gabbe, M.D., who came to Vanderbilt in 2001.
“We know that you have spent hundreds of hours deciding where you would go to medical school and we have spent thousands of hours reviewing the 4,400 applications we received to select those students who would be joining us.”
With that statistic put in perspective, the incoming students couldn't help but take notice as Associate Dean of Admissions John Zic, M.D, introduced their classmates for the next four years.
“That lets you know that you worked hard to get here, but there is also a nice bit of luck that came in,” said incoming VUSM student Bronwyn Uber, a Brown University graduate. “I'm glad I'm here and not somewhere else right now.”
“It is very inspiring and somewhat intimidating,” said Elizabeth Zellner, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate. “It's kind of surreal.”
The 105 incoming medical students span 26 states including Tennessee (15), Florida (6), Georgia (9), California (6), New York (5), and seven are citizens from other countries, including Kenya (2), Korea, India, China, Vietnam and Canada.
Together they represent 56 different colleges and universities, with 18 completing their undergraduate work at Vanderbilt and 21 representing Ivy League schools, including seven from Harvard University.
“You can feel the electricity,” said Marlon Joseph, a University of Miami graduate. “I know that I am actually launching into my medical career so I feel a little bit of anxiety, a little bit of excitement. There's a mix of emotions.”
Jacobson said an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) survey found that VUSM graduates “uniformly register the highest of satisfaction with their medical education.”
“The key drivers of that satisfaction for students are the quality of the faculty, the collegial, team-oriented collaborative environment, and the personal interest that faculty take in your success,” Jacobson said. “We have three missions — teach, heal and discover.”
“Each of you brings remarkable intellect, energy and character to us today. You bring your talents, your goals for the future, your ambitions and your dreams and you entrust them to us. We take this as a mighty challenge and a great responsibility but, if past is prologue, less than four years from now every one of you will write an M.D. after your name.”