Members of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s class of 2009 celebrate at last week’s graduation. (photo by Joe Howell)
Graduation 2009: VUSM grads ready to shape medicine’s future
Langford Auditorium was standing room only on an emotional day for the 2009 graduates of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
In his commencement address on May 8, Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of VUSM, told graduates he was counting on them to shape the future of medicine, and that their success will depend on their ability to be part of a team.
Brenessa Lindeman, left, is presented with the School of Medicine Founder’s Medal by Dean Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D. (photo by Joe Howell)
“Your degree does not earn it and being the most superior competitor won't earn it. The raw horsepower of your brain matter won't earn it. Humility will earn it,” Balser said. “Being a member of the team is something you have to earn every day.”
Harry Jacobson, M.D., smiles during the School of Medicine ceremony at Langford Auditorium. (photo by Joe Howell)
Just before awarding degrees, Balser took a moment to thank Harry Jacobson, M.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs, who will retire next month and be succeeded by Balser.
“Never before has a medical center, with the possible exception of Johns Hopkins in the days of William Osler (a Hopkins founder), been so poised to change the future of medicine,” Balser said. “All of us here today, and probably no one more than me, owe a profound debt of gratitude to Dr. Harry Jacobson.”
Jacobson and Bonnie Miller, M.D., senior associate dean for Health Sciences Education, placed the green, black and gold academic hoods on 103 new VUSM graduates.
This year the school has the distinction of having graduated 14 students underrepresented in medicine — the largest number in the school's history, according to George Hill, Ph.D., associate dean for Diversity in Medical Education.
Vernon Rayford celebrates with some of the 40 family members who came to see him graduate from the School of Medicine. (photo by Joe Howell)
Nina Glass received her diploma from her mother, Barbara Stoll, M.D., chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Emory, and her father, Roger Glass, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Fogarty International Center and associate director for International Research at the National Institutes of Health.
Michael Young carries the VUSM banner at the University-wide ceremony, held in Memorial Gym due to rain. (photo by Joe Howell)
“I'm proud of my parents, and I know they are proud of me,” Glass said. “I had everyone in the family buy cowboy boots when they came to visit one time and I told them they should wear them to my graduation to show that Nashville spirit.”
Jim Phillips gets a hug following VUSM’s ceremony. (photo by Joe Howell)
They kept the boots for another occasion, but a beaming Glass said she would miss the down-home feel of Nashville as she heads to her general surgery residency at New York University.
VUSM's Brigham Au, his wife, Anna, right, sister, Kawehi Sekona, and niece, Nele Kaufusi, donned Hawaiian leis at graduation. (photo by Joe Howell)
Brian Drolet spent a good portion of his medical school life working to make sure his fellow students had plenty of opportunity for stress relief and support by helping start both the Student Wellness Program and the Advisory College Program. But now, the Nashau, N.H., native heads back east for the plastic surgery residency program at Brown, Rhode Island Hospital.
VUSM’s Frank Lee lets out a yell. (photo by Joe Howell)
“I am not sad because I know my connection with Vanderbilt doesn't end here, but it is hard to find a place like Vanderbilt, where the environment is one of cooperation and caring, not competition against one another,” Drolet said.
Emily Hon Castellanos and her husband, Jason Castellanos, seemed to have the best symmetry of all the graduates. The couple married on July 7, 2007. Each is the adventurous, eldest sibling in their respective families. And on Friday, they graduated together, each with their M.D.s from VUSM.
Shamaal Miller celebrates after receiving his degree from the School of Medicine. (photo by Joe Howell)
Emily's parents, Jeremy Hon, M.D., an oncologist, and Lynda Hon, M.D., a retired radiologist from Alabama, presented her diploma. Jason's uncle and mentor, Salvador Manrriquez, D.D.S., from California, presented his.
Vernon Rayford might very well win the award for the biggest family gathering at graduation. About 40 family members, most from around his hometown of Holly Springs, Miss., were on hand to celebrate.
Rayford worked weekends as a pharmacist at Walgreens but managed to find time for a number of distinctions during medical school. He was the 2007 recipient of the national AMA Minority Scholars award. Now he will move away from the South for the first time, to pursue a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital.
“I will miss the nurturing environment here. I was always busy, but the school supported and encouraged my involvement, saying ‘yes you can’ and being there to help me succeed,” Rayford said.
Perhaps the most wistful of all at the graduation ceremony was class president Mike Young. Young wiped away tears as he received his diploma from his father, N.T. Young, M.D., an endocrinologist in Elizabethtown, Ky., and his older sister, VyVy Young, M.D., a chief resident in Ear, Nose and Throat in Louisville, Ky.
The elder Young escaped from Saigon, Vietnam, with Mike's mother in 1975 and built a new life in the United States. Young says graduation was a day to feel pride and gratitude for so many reasons, including his parent's history and his own accomplishments. But he said the day was bittersweet too — many of his classmates will scatter to other places to continue their training.
“We are celebrating this transition to becoming professional physicians. I can already tell my classmates will become leaders and will have a positive impact on their communities,” Young said. “I will be looking forward to seeing them again in the near or distant future.”