Sixty-two medical students took the Hippocratic Oath and received their degrees at the seventh commencement ceremony for the UC Riverside School of Medicine on Friday, June 2, 2023 at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside.
The recording of the ceremony can be seen here.
The keynote address was delivered by Peter Igarashi, MD, dean of the Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine. Igarashi began his journey to medicine in 1974 as a UCR student who was a member of the inaugural UCR/UCLA Biomedical Sciences program that was the forebearer of the UCR School of Medicine.
“Although I have given many talks in my career, this is the first time I have been invited to give a medical school commencement address,” he said. “To deliver it at my alma mater on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the medical school is particularly meaningful.”
Igarashi reminisced about the seven-year accelerated program that he and his 16 classmates completed.
“One advantage of the small class size was that we received very personalized attention from the faculty,” he said. “The downside was that we received very personalized attention from the faculty, so if we missed a class our absence was conspicuously noted.”
Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and Mark and Pam Rubin Dean of the School of Medicine Deborah Deas, MD commended the class of 2023 on their perseverance through the COVID-19 pandemic, which bisected their medical education.
“Four years ago I had the honor of welcoming you to the School of Medicine at your White Coat Ceremony. While I looked forward to your journey in medical education, I couldn’t have predicted the challenges and changes you would face during a global pandemic. These last few years were unprecedented for you as well as your fellow peers around the world,” Deas said. “Despite the uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, you persevered and responded when your communities needed you the most.”
“We’re the COVID class,” echoed Mohamed Habib El-Farra, a graduating student who will enter the general surgery residency program at Loma Linda University. “It's amazing being able to actually see our classmates [at commencement] because we had such a long gap of not being able to see each other,” he added. “It's really nice to be able to come full circle and be in the same spot where we were doing our White Coat ceremony to actually graduate now. It's really nice to have that final closing chapter."
Fourth-year medical student Patrick Samones shared similar thoughts during his student address. A UCR undergraduate and the class representative for the class of 2023, Samones saluted the resilience and grit of his classmates.
“Many of us completely changed from who we were when we first started. Some of us got engaged, married, had a kid or two. Maybe even a dog or cat. We lost people in our lives and we gained others. We grew from those sleepless nights, drowning in our flashcards and iced coffees,” he said.
“In the face of unprecedented challenges, let us remember that we are not defined by our profession, but rather by the people we are and the lives we touch,” he added.
Graduating student Omar Abbas, whose Syrian background and views of the country’s conflict attracted him to UCR’s mission of serving disadvantaged populations, also commented on the importance of serving the community. “My long-term goal is to work with immigrant populations, immigrant mental health, and community psychiatry oriented towards people with lower levels of access to health care,” said Abbas.
After completing his bachelor’s and medical degree at UCR, Abbas will remain at the school for his residency in psychiatry and hopes to practice medicine in the area in the future. “The reason we're here is to be able to serve and help our communities,” he said.
