May 4, 2020 – I will be an advocate for patients in need and strive for justice in the care of the sick.” No other time in recent history do the words resonating from the Hippocratic Oath convey the importance of the vow that all physicians solemnly swear to hold and value throughout their careers. Today, 63 members of the class of 2020 at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine made that vow virtually, in unison, as they were conferred the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree. Family, friends, faculty, staff and others celebrated the occasion with the graduating class using a web-based virtual gathering.
More than half the class of 2020 will start their residency program in a state that is currently considered a hotspot for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven of the graduates are headed to New York; others will be going to New Jersey, Illinois, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Louisiana and Texas. In line with the medical school’s mission, 21 of the 63 members of the class of 2020 will conduct their residency in Florida (34 percent) with 25 members who will specialize in primary care including family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics (40 percent). One of the graduates will serve as a physician in the U.S. Army.
Relevant to the current pandemic, one of the most popular residencies among FAU’s class of 2020 is emergency medicine; eight of the 63 graduates (13 percent) will begin training in emergency medicine this July. The class also matched in other highly specialized fields that are among the most competitive in the match process, including neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, urology, among others.
“Congratulations! Today marks an extraordinary accomplishment for each of you, and you are achieving this feat at an extraordinary time in our collective history, as doctors across the globe work alongside other scientists, healthcare workers and public health officials to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Phillip Boiselle, M.D., dean of FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine who addressed the class of 2020 virtually. Today, you officially become doctors, and soon you will be among those on the front lines directly serving patients in need. You are well prepared for this challenge and for the many others that you will face during your medical careers. I wish you all the best as you begin your professional journeys as humanistic physicians.”
Douglas J. McConnell, M.D., an alumnus in the inaugural class of 2015 in FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine, delivered the keynote address. McConnell practices internal medicine/pediatrics in Tampa.
“I certainly did not think I would be giving the commencement address from my bedroom, but here we are. Graduating during a pandemic is very different than it was for me in 2015,” said McConnell. “The silver lining behind COVID-19 is that there are no experts. Given enough time and effort, a motivated resident can be just as helpful as a seasoned attending. Think about all you have been through in the last few years and how much you have learned. Most importantly, you have learned to assimilate challenges into knowledge. This is why today you are being called a ‘doctor.’ Congratulations on this achievement and good luck on the road ahead.”
Among the various Florida institutions where FAU’s class of 2020 placed are the University of Florida College of Medicine – Shands Hospital, Gainesville; University of Central Florida College of Medicine /GME Consortium, Orlando; University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville; Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Miami; Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach; Nemours Children’s Hospital, Orlando; AdventHealth Orlando; Memorial Healthcare System, Pembroke Pines; University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa; and FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine.
The class of 2020 also placed in several top institutions nationally, including Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta; University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Washington, D.C; New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center; Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis; Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles; and Nationwide Hospital, Columbus.
“Class of 2020, you are entering the medical profession at an unprecedented time in the delivery of health care in Florida and throughout our nation,” said Stuart L. Markowitz, M.D., senior associate dean of student affairs and admissions in FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine. “You have been preparing for this special day for years, and now, you are ready to continue to the next phase of your medical journey. We could not be more proud of your accomplishments and we wish you much success in your careers as physicians. Congratulations.”
FAU President John Kelly provided congratulatory remarks and Bret Danilowicz, Ph.D., FAU provost and vice president for academic affairs conferred the M.D. degrees. Sarah Wood, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education in FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine announced the candidates, and Markowitz and Jennifer Caceres, M.D., assistant dean for student affairs in FAU’ Schmidt College of Medicine, initiated the Hippocratic Oath.
About the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine:
FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is one of approximately 152 accredited medical schools in the U.S. The college was launched in 2010, when the Florida Board of Governors made a landmark decision authorizing FAU to award the M.D. degree. After receiving approval from the Florida legislature and the governor, it became the 134th allopathic medical school in North America. With more than 70 full and part-time faculty and more than 1,300 affiliate faculty, the college matriculates 64 medical students each year and has been nationally recognized for its innovative curriculum. To further FAU’s commitment to increase much needed medical residency positions in Palm Beach County and to ensure that the region will continue to have an adequate and well-trained physician workforce, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Consortium for Graduate Medical Education (GME) was formed in fall 2011 with five leading hospitals in Palm Beach County. The Consortium currently has five Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residencies including internal medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and neurology.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit fau.edu.
