Faculty such as Dr. Joseph Martinez, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, wore their academic finest.
Dean E. Albert Reece addresses the bicentennial Class of 2007
The Bicentennial Convocation for the Class of 2007 was held at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall the morning of May 18th. The ceremony involved a number of special guests, including representatives from the four medical schools older than the University of Maryland School of Medicine – Penn, Columbia, Harvard and Dartmouth – and Dr. Abraham Verghese, MD, MFA, MACP, DSc (Hon), whom the class chose as guest speaker. And of course there were plenty of friends and family on hand to celebrate as the graduates received their doctoral hoods.
As they gathered in their green-piped robes before the ceremony, the graduates couldn't hide their excitement. "It's a culmination of eight years of hard work and dedication," said Ted Sung, who is going on to a residency in Emergency Medicine at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY. "Years of learning professionalism and humanism and how to be a healer."
"It's a great day," raved Catherine Zorc. "We've worked really hard to get to this point, and now we're finally graduating. Many of us have taken years off and done other things, other careers, but we knew we wanted to do medicine, and to have today finally come is very special." Catherine will be doing a residency in pediatrics the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which she expects will be similar to the work she did as a teacher in the Baltimore City schools. "I'll be working with the same population and working hard," she said with a laugh.
Dean Reece shared the convocation stage with representatives of the four medical schools older than ours.
Medical school was no laughing matter for the graduates most of the time, but they will take home many precious things from their four years here. "I've made some amazing friends," said Ketaki Abhyankar, who will be taking on a residency in emergency medicine at Christiana Care Medical Center in Delaware. "You tend to bond very quickly in a place like medical school." Christine Adaniel will head to a residency in internal medicine at New York University Hospital Center with "a lot of fond memories, great friendships and great faculty mentors I can always come back to and talk to."
Stephanie Addison will carry with her to her pediatrics residency at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania two important life lessons. "Without family and support you are nothing," she declared. "And always believe in yourself."
Lilian Ebuoma certainly did, even when it seemed she might never reach her dream of going to medical school. "I've been waiting for this day all my life!" raved Lilian, who served five years in the Navy as a corpsman before being accepted at the School of Meidicne. She will be doing a transitional residency at York Hospital in Pennsylvania before going on to Massachusetts General to study Diagnostic Radiology. She will take with her a Faculty Gold Medal for Outstanding Qualifications for the Practice of Medicine, which honors graduates with outstanding scholarly accomplishments and those qualities of humanity and dedication most desirable in a physician.
Sharing gold medal honors with Lilian was Gary Schwartzbauer, the oldest member of the class.
He joked during his speech that he was old enough to be a parent to some of his classmates, but he appreciated them accepting him all the same. Gary will be staying at the University of Maryland Medical Center for residencies in General Surgery and Neurosurgery.
Whether sticking close or heading out of state, all the graduates seemed to agree with Minghan Leo Tsay's take on the day. "It's great to finally be done!"
Related Images:
Former teacher Catherine Zorc loves working with children, so she's going into Pediatrics.
David Ramsay, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, catches up with Meredith Bond, chair of the Department of Physiology, before the ceremony.
The graduates wait anxiously to proceed inside for the convocation ceremony.
Matt Dunn brought son McKay with him when he received his hood.
Alumni from as far back as the Class of '37 were onstage for the bicentennial convocation.
Lilian Ebuoma, Lei Chen, Ketaki Abhyankar, Christine Adaniel and Stephanie Addison share their excitement.
Copyright 2006 University of Maryland School of Medicine
