Commencement celebrates knowledge and friendship, challenges and hope
The graduating students, with their doctoral hoods draped over their arms, get ready to march into the tent, where the June 17 commencement ceremony was held.
BY LOUIS BERGERON
Approaching the vast white tent in which they were about to receive their degrees, many of this year's graduates from the School of Medicine looked solemn, eyes downcast as they walked in single file. But far more sported smiles that simply couldn't be contained, no matter the gravitas of the occasion.
As the procession threaded through a gauntlet of family photographers busily snapping the moment into digital immortality on June 17, the soon-to-be grads kept breaking ranks, darting to the side to share a hug with a loved one, or just smiling and waving.
Just before entering the tent, Taavi Melville-Neklesa gave a smile and a wave at his wife, Rebecca, cradling their baby girl Kaia in her arms. Taavi was receiving a PhD in biochemistry that was six years in the making. "It's a big day," said Rebecca.
It was a big day as well for the other assembled families and friends, who, on seeing the students step into the tent and toward the stage, burst forth with a roar of the sort usually reserved on college campuses for the successful recipients of game-winning Hail Mary touchdown passes. The crowd of hundreds gathered on the Dean's Lawn outside the medical school, taking the moment to savor the results of years of work and not only the knowledge gained, but also the friendships that had been formed.
The joy of the occasion was captured by Iwei Yeh, who received both her MD and a PhD in biomedical informatics, and spoke on behalf of her fellow PhD graduates. "It was not all roses," she said, reflecting on the process of earning a graduate degree. But there was a strong camaraderie, heightened by the shared challenges of living on a tight budget. She summed up her time at Stanford as "truly amazing," and concluded, "May you be successful and happy in life."
Medical school Dean Philip Pizzo, MD, noted that in addition to earning her MD and PhD, Yeh is the mother of an 8-month-old child.
Jason Karamchandani then spoke for the graduating MDs, pointing out the serious challenges that faced their profession, particularly the shrinking access to health care for the millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans. He said that a congressional committee studying the problem had recently concluded that Americans want universal access to health care. "The same committee made no suggestions as to the implementation of this request, nor did they address the subject of funding," he said.
As a Canadian citizen, Karamchandani said he was well aware of both the benefits and limitations of universal health care, but that the future demanded changes—whatever they may be—in the U.S. system. "I encourage all of you here today to take an active part in these discussions," he said. "It is imperative that we physicians and patients have our voices heard, lest we are drowned out by those of corporations and politicians."
Pizzo shared Karamchandani's concerns in his own remarks to the graduates. He said that the United States is No. 1 in the world in only one area of health care: administrative overhead. "That's pretty sad," he said, decrying the "factory-like mentality" created by HMOs that pervades much of medical care.
But in spite of the problems that beset the health-care system, Pizzo also admitted to feeling optimistic about the future. "As I look at you, I must say, you give me hope," he said.
With that, the awarding of the diplomas began.
As each graduate was called in turn to descend the risers to receive his or her degree, the right side of the stage rapidly turned into an uploading area, where babies and the occasional toddler were handed up to accompany many of the graduates in their final trek across the stage.
With or without a child, all the PhD and MD recipients paused briefly to greet the faculty member who was to hood them, then turned their back upon them and performed a brief curtsy-like bend of the knees to allow graceful placement of hood over head. Then over to Pizzo, where hearty handshakes and diplomas were dispensed, then toward the left side of the stage for the offloading of offspring (though in some cases it was a niece or nephew).
Winifred Adams expressed relief after becoming the first of the MDs to cross the stage to receive a degree. "I was hoping I wouldn't stumble," she said.
The proceedings were nearly at an end when Zachary Dobilas, age 3, decided he'd had enough. Grabbing his grandmother's walker and rolling it ahead like a snowplow, he tried to make a break for it through the crowd. His alert mother, Jennifer Dobilas, scotched the escape attempt, but guided him out onto the lawn.
The mother and son were there to see Dobilas's sister, Lisa Lee Pate, get her MD. Both were impressed, but especially Zachary, an avid fan of Superman. Asked for his thoughts about his newly degreed aunt, he did not skip a beat: She too is "a superhero," he said.
