 Please be seated. To begin the Larner College of Medicine commencement ceremony today, class of 2023 graduates, class of 23 graduates, Naomi Khaliba-Lawler and Michael Khaliba-Lawler will perform these green mountains. To protect her beauty. The ceremony for the class of 2023 at the Robert Larner MD College of Medicine at the University of Vermont will be presided over by Dean Richard L. Page. Dean Page? Thank you, Dr. Cushman. What a beautiful event in such a beautiful place started off by that beautiful song. I tell you, I'm going to hold it together, but I can't help but reflect on the day I met this class and greeted them before things all got started for the trip we've been on together. Good afternoon, everyone. Everyone joining us here today in Ira Allen Chapel and those joining us from all over the world via live stream. Live stream, it's my great pleasure to welcome you to this special day for this amazing class of 2023. This day is special for our college but also as the seventh oldest medical school in the United States. We're now graduating our class of 2023 in our bicentennial year, 200 years after our first class. Now, in addition to welcoming all of you to this event, we're so pleased that Provost Prelock is here. She's Senior Vice President for the University and has had a very busy day. Let me also welcome our guest speaker, Dr. Gora Basu, a 2010 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine, whom you'll hear from in a few moments. Before we proceed, we should take a moment to acknowledge the individuals joining us here on stage. These deans, chairs, and other leaders gathered represent the many faculty and staff who contributed to the education of these graduates we're honoring today. Thanks to these individuals and those they represent, we're celebrating the graduation of these outstanding new doctors, the class of 2023. I'm going to ask the stage participants to stand when your name is called and remain standing, please. Audience, please hold your applause until everyone has been acknowledged. I know it's hard. Dr. Christa Zela, Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education. Dr. Karen George, Associate Dean for Students. Dr. Catherine Huggat, Robert Larner Professor in Medical Education and Assistant Dean for Medical Education. Dr. Elise Everett, Assistant Dean for Clerkship Curriculum. Dr. Mary Cushman, Faculty Marshal, representing the Department of Medicine and newly named University Distinguished Professor. Dr. Jason Sanders, Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and President of the UVM Medical Group. Dr. Kate Tracy, Senior Associate Dean for Research. Dr. Jan Carney, Senior Advisor and Associate Dean for Public Health. Dr. Margaret Tando, Richard L. Gamelli, Green and Gold Professor of Surgery and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Dr. Rebecca Wilcox, Associate Dean for Faculty. Dr. Charles McLean, Associate Dean for Primary Care. Dr. Melissa Davidson, Howard Shapiro and Janet Carroll, Green and Gold Professor in Anesthesiology and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education. Dr. Layla Amiri, Associate Dean for Admissions. Dr. Ellen Kulaga, Assistant Dean for Students at our Connecticut Clinical Branch Campus. Dr. John Rosen, Associate Dean for Medical Education at our Connecticut Clinical Branch Campus. Dr. Mariah McNamara, Assistant Dean for Students and representing the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Gary Stein, Arthur Jason Perlman Professor, Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and newly named University Distinguished Professor. Dr. Gregory Holmes, Chair of the Department of Neurologic Sciences. Dr. Robert Altoff, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Kristin Distictor, John P. and Catherine H. Tampas, Green and Gold Professor in Radiology and Chair of the Department of Radiology. Dr. Ira Bernstein, John Van Sicklin, Mac, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. Dr. Andrew Goodman, representing the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Matt Wargo, representing the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Dr. Alan Howe, representing the Department of Pharmacology. Dr. Rebecca Oslickson, Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. Dr. Thomas Peterson, Morris Goldman Professor of Family Medicine and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. Dr. David Warshaw, Chair of the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and University Distinguished Professor. Dr. Mitchell Norotsky, Stanley S. Fiber Chair in Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery. Dr. Claude Nichols, Chair of the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation. And last, Dr. Lewis First, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics. It truly takes a village. This village represents the many faculty and staff who contributed to your education. Let's all give them a round of applause. Well done. The class of 2023 is special. They joined us in the before times. And with the emergence of COVID, they experienced an overnight switch to remote learning in March of their first year. Thanks to outstanding efforts by our faculty and staff and the grace and professionalism of this class of 2023, we all adjusted to provide uninterrupted education. This class knew medical school would be challenging. But nobody predicted that they'd be becoming a doctor amid the greatest health crisis in a century. The world has been profoundly disrupted in the last four years. COVID exposed and amplified health care disparities, in part due to a legacy of racial and social injustice in the US and abroad. Our country alone has lost 1.1 million souls. But we have turned the corner and better times are ahead. It's such a pleasure for us to celebrate together again. I'd also point out that even during the pandemic, we've seen great progress here and beyond. Out of necessity, we became comfortable with videoconferencing, representing a leap forward in treating our rural patients, for example. We've even integrated telemedicine into our curriculum. Videoconferencing has shown us an efficient and more equitable way to recruit students and residents in our own class experienced this. And during this class's time with us, as a demonstration of confidence in the future, our college broke down. I'm broke down, that would be bad. Our college broke ground, built, and now has occupied the Firestone Medical Research Building. This sets the stage for enhanced research opportunities for medical and graduate students to come. Indeed, I join you today filled with optimism. We're using our masks less frequently. And I even get to shake hands this year, although I'll kind of miss the fist bump. I thought that was cool. And you, the class of 2023, you're our clearest indicators of better times ahead. You're the best promise for our future. You've shown commitment, compassion, and professionalism. And I thank you for that. Our college is a longstanding commitment to the engagement of medical students in learning not just the science of medicine, but the arch and the core values of a healer. Our College of Medicine emphasizes communication, reflection, and professionalism. We've built on this tradition with our statement on professionalism, developed by a diverse task force of students, trainees, faculty, and staff, and introduced just before this class arrived. Challenging times such as these underscore even more our commitment. The statement, which appears on the back of today's printed program reads, our Larner College of Medicine community upholds the highest standards of professionalism as we follow our passion for lifelong learning and improvement. We demonstrate professionalism through integrity, accountability, compassion, altruism, and social responsibility. We honor the trust our society has placed in us as stewards of the art and science of medicine, relying on cultural humility, kindness, and respect to guide our daily interactions. We expect all members of our community to embrace these principles of professionalism as we strive to conduct and support patient care, research, and education that are second to none. Notice that this statement affirms professionalism not as how you look or where you're from, the baby's fine, I promise, but rather what's in your heart and how you strive to be the best for your patients. This commitment to professionalism is the true north for our college, and we trust it will serve the same direction for the class of 2023. Now this is a big day for all of us, and especially your family and friends. As we celebrate this milestone, let's take the opportunity to thank those who have played an important role in helping this class arrive at this moment. Attending today, either here or remotely, are family, friends, and loved ones who have supported this class and encouraged them every step of the way. So I'd like to ask all of our graduates now to stand. Don't face me, but face your loved ones, and give them a round of applause. OK, please be seated. You've got to turn around this way now. Today you are joining an extraordinary group of individuals who have graduated before you for the last 200 years, the alumni of our college. As alumni yourselves, as of this afternoon, you're going to extend our campus beyond our borders, make a difference in your communities the way you've made a difference in ours. As you begin this next phase of your journey, I wish you only the best. I encourage you to let integrity, compassion, and social responsibility serve as your true north. Let cultural humility, kindness, and respect guide your daily interactions. With these core values and the education you have received, you are ready to greet the patients who await you. Congratulations once again. Now, it's often said that medicine is a team sport. That's true in the clinic, in the classroom, and the laboratory. It's also true in the community and across the region. And incredibly important for us is the collaborative and engaged partner that we have at the UVM Health Network. Our shared missions and close relationship provide great benefit to the learning environment for our students. It's now my great pleasure to invite my friend and colleague, Dr. Stephen Leffler, Professor of Surgery, class of 1990, alumnus of our College of Medicine and representative of the UVM Health Network. He serves as president of the UVM Medical Center, and he'd like to share his thoughts. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Stephen Leffler. Good afternoon. It is my great pleasure to be here on behalf of the University of Vermont Health Network to congratulate the class of 2023. Well done. Being here today, in person, without masks, is a milestone moment where I hope you'll each take a moment to reflect on your hard work, dedication, and perseverance over the last four years. With you are some others who are pretty proud of you, your families, friends, and loved ones. They have supported you through your journey, and they know firsthand the sacrifices each of you have made to reach this point in your careers today. I am sure it gives them great joy and pride to see how far you've come. As we gather here, we can appreciate the significance of being able to be, celebrate together, and see each other's faces, something that was not possible for the past few years. You've all experienced a unique path to this moment, unimagined by men who came before you, and I commend you for your resilience and adaptability in the face of many challenges and uncertainties. The pandemic has changed the world, and going through medical school during this time will undoubtedly impact the way each of you practice medicine. You've experienced firsthand, and like few others, the importance of teamwork, innovation, and adaptability in health care. These are valuable skills that will serve you well throughout your career, no matter where it leads you. Medicine is always changing and evolving. You've each learned to be comfortable with uncertainty and change, and to be resilient no matter what comes up, like a global pandemic during your first year of medical school. These skills will be great assets as you navigate the amazing challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for each of you. We know that here today, we are sending incredibly talented, engaged, and committed physicians out into the world. Each of you brings an amazing personal and professional story to your work. They will serve your patients well. Your perspective, experience, and depth of knowledge will each benefit countless patients in your future. I know in your future there'll be times when you question yourself, when you suffer with your patients, even times when you may wonder why you went into medicine. But being a physician is incredibly rewarding, and the impact you will have on people's lives will be immeasurable. Back in 1990, I know that's a long time ago, I was sitting right where you are now, actually with some of your parents who are here today, and I had many hopes and dreams for my future. But mostly, I was worried if I was ready to be an intern. I promise that you all are. Even through the really tough times in my career, I can honestly say that all those dreams have been fulfilled. I've enjoyed every minute of my work, and looking back, it feels like every difficult moment, every turning point, every success and failure has made me a better physician and a better person. Being a physician means you'll forever be learning and growing. You'll always be profoundly impacting your patients in ways they will remember for the rest of their lives. I've never regretted my decision to become a physician, and I have every confidence that you will feel the same. As you embark on your careers, I encourage you to remember the lessons you've learned and the values you hold dear. Your education at the University of Vermont Learner College of Medicine has prepared you well for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Change is inevitable, but you are ready. As you leave here today, I want to express our proud aim of each and every one of you. You have finished an incredible, you have finished a step and an incredible journey. It's a big step, and you should be very proud of yourselves. Much of your journey is still in front of you. Embrace the challenges, successes, and failures. I have every confidence to make a positive impact on your patients and on the world. Thank you for choosing the University of Vermont Learner College of Medicine and the University of Vermont Health Network. It's been a privilege to have you here with us, to watch you learn and grow. Good luck, take care of yourselves, and please come back to Vermont to visit, or better yet, come back and practice here. We'd always be happy to have you back. Thank you, and congratulations. Thank you so much, Dr. Lefler. Our next speaker is a 2010 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Gora Basu is a position and founding director of the Cambridge Health Alliance Center for Health Equity, Education, and Advocacy. He's an instructor at Harvard Medical School and faculty affiliate in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Dr. Basu is a health equity fellow at the Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment and faculty affiliate at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He's been recognized nationally for his work in climate change and health equity, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation named him a Culture of Health Leader in 2018. In 2021, he was named to the GRISC 50 list of national climate leaders. He's also received the Union of Concerned Scientists 2020 Science Defender Award. He served on the Implementation Advisory Committee for the Massachusetts Governor's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. His work has been featured by NPRs, All Things Considered, and his perspective pieces have appeared in the Boston Globe, Scientific American, and the Philadelphia Enquirer, among others. Please join me in welcoming our speaker, Dr. Gora Basu. It's quite a majestic scene to look out here and see the new to be doctors and their loved ones. Dean Page, Dr. Leffler, Dr. Zala, thank you so much for your invitation. In Class of 2023, what a huge, momentous, magical day for all of you and your loved ones. I'm really honored to be a big part of your day. We'll get to congratulating you properly in a minute, but I gotta say, coming back is making me feel a little old. I'm seeing some changes around campus, nice buildings, fancy lecture halls. I saw the video of Match Day, so let me just tell you, Match Day for us, we go to our mailbox, pull the piece of paper, find out where we went. Y'all got a Disney-themed Match Day under the sea? You got the deans wearing goofy hats, a sea dress up, what, scuba divers and cows and sharks? We didn't get any of that. I'll be honest, I'm trying to start this speech coming off as the cool young faculty member. So you have to tell me how we're doing it. So I reach out to Cyrus, I see Cyrus there. Cyrus, you know, give me the scoop, how can I do this? So I heard about the group chat, and Cyrus said, nope, you're not one of Rick's children. Don't know exactly what that meant, but I took it as a no. I also heard about BioCamp. I heard BioCamp was pretty rough. And I hear we should give Sam Aldis a shout out, because as I understand it, Sam tutored the whole class and helped the class pass BioCamp. So I think Sam's graduating next year because of research. So thank you, Sam. Who knows if any of us would be here today without Sam. I wanna offer my heartfelt congratulations on this extraordinary achievement for which we celebrate you today. I really think becoming a doctor is one of the hardest things someone can take on. And in the past four years, you've learned so much information. You've synthesized your patient's stories. And more broadly, you've transformed into becoming a doctor. And as our speakers today have touched upon, you did it during an extraordinary, unprecedented time in the world and the delivery of healthcare. Med school was hard for me and there were certainly times that I struggled. And I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure how I would have been able to manage all that you did in the last four years. To navigate medical school, you met great uncertainty with resilience, faith, compassion, determination, and courage. I know for so many of you, you were able to meet this moment in history because of the embrace and support and care of your loved ones, mentors, families, and friends. So I hope on this very special day, you can take a moment to deeply reflect on how you in the class with one another and your loved ones, how you really took care of each other and how such care taking can be such a special gift. 13 years after I sat in your seat in the Ira Allen Chapel, I'm here to tell you that you made the right choice to pursue medicine. Since graduating in 2010, I went on to train as a primary care doctor and now work at a community health center in Massachusetts. Let me be clear, the US healthcare system is tattered and dysfunctional and unfair. All of our patients who deserve excellent quality of care, which is their right, do not get that in this country. The healthcare system is creating tremendous burnout that is impacting providers and downstream their patients. But in spite of the extraordinary challenges that our healthcare system now faces, I can tell you that the sacred craft of healing, of caring, of serving our patients is exactly what our world needs. The truth is that you'll have expertise in your area of medicine sooner than you realize. You're gonna see so many patients and you'll have an area of focus and hopefully mentors in a community to support you that making the right clinical decision is gonna get easier and easier sooner than you realize. But as you know, that's only the beginning of our calling to be a doctor. Medicine at its best is seeing someone's humanity. It's about making sure that when a patient leaves your room, they not only have the right medicine to take, but they feel seen and heard and valued. You will continue to hear day in and day out profound details of your patient's stories, their joys and their triumphs, their tragedy and fear. They will walk into your clinical room and hand you their vulnerability and their humanity because of the trust they have in you and the profession of medicine. And you will be given an opportunity, one visit at a time, one person at a time to offer compassion and healing to a world that is in so much pain and so much hurt. To be a doctor is to accept responsibility to showing up to a world in pain. It is our job to bear witness to that pain every day for the rest of our lives. And some days it can feel too much to take on. And your clinical skills will position you to often treat and cure the disease your patients come to you with. But other times you'll simply have to stand by their side and hold their pain with them and perhaps offer your own humanity as well. There are few professions in the world that offer the opportunity to understand the world in this way. We become the holder of our patient's stories. These stories change us. Our patients become our teachers and they give us a special understanding of what is tattered in our society and what needs mending. The patients I have served here in the United States and around the world have taught me that structures and systems matter. We cannot create a society that produces sickness and expect health. If we don't feed our children, if we don't offer folks affordable housing, if we don't reckon with racism, we cannot expect health. We have been able to accomplish extraordinary things in medicine because we are great problem solvers. And still, life expectancy in the United States is decreasing and profound racial inequities persist. Far too many feel depressed and alone and we push new parents to get back to work quickly after giving birth, leaving them to fend for themselves for decent and affordable childcare. Gun violence breaks families and communities and 12 million children go to bed hungry every night. Structures and systems matter. We didn't need COVID to highlight the inequities that are the fault lines in our society but it sure did show us that. And it's critical that as we listen to our patient's stories, we keep our eyes open so we remain able to see injustice, that we keep our hearts open so that we remain capable of feeling the anguish of injustice and that we reflect deeply and actively about what our role is in making a more decent, inclusive, generous and healthy society. Systems and structures matter. There's no greater system than our planetary one. In 2018, after reading a major UN report, I had my wake up moment. It took this report to help me understand the gravity and urgency of the crisis of climate change. As both a doctor and a parent, the understanding of climate change and its implications shook me to my core. When I began in this work for months, I'd stayed up late at night after my wife and kids would go to sleep, ferociously studying and trying to understand how I could try to serve this issue. But I felt hopeless, I felt despair, I felt paralysis, I felt fear. I felt there was so little I could do for such a vast problem. But then I realized that climate change impacts everything I care about as a doctor. It increased the risks of heat waves and natural disasters and it exacerbates the burden of infectious diseases, mental health conditions, food insecurity and water scarcity. I started seeing the ways it was impacting my patients and I knew I had to act. So I shifted gears in my career to focus on climate solutions. Here's what I've come to realize about climate change. Yes, it's about greenhouse gas emissions, it's about air pollutants, but actually it's about how we live on this planet together, looking after one another and becoming better stewards of this miraculous shared home we have. Doctors play a critical role in climate solutions because we make it human. We explain to people how climate change impacts the things and people they love. And while progress has been stymied by misinformation and deception from the fossil fuel industry, we can re-center the conversation on health. We can step into the public forum and speak up for our patients and offer the moral voice that this conversation demands. We are living in an extraordinary moment where never before have we seen the wreckage of climate change so clearly and yet never before have we had so many transformative solutions right at hand, ready to go, ready to implement today. We know how to solve climate change and so the first words that now come to my mind when I hear the words climate change is courage and determination and imagination. Climate change is about our relationship to the earth, each other and future generations. It's about seeing our interconnectedness and common humanity. It is about taking care of one another. Fighting climate change is about the conviction that a child deserves a future in which they can dream, love and find their place in this world, no matter if they are born in Burlington, Vermont, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Monrovia, Liberia, or Dhaka, Bangladesh. You start your careers at an extraordinary moment in history. A hundred years from now, what will the class of 21, 23 be saying? They'll be wondering, what was the class of 2023 thinking? They started their career in the midst of a pandemic with a planet burning and amongst great social unrest. How do they contribute to moving us in a better direction? We can look at the challenges we face and feel that it is too much, that we feel too small or insignificant, that these issues are not in our purview or expertise, but I urge you to look deeper and see that these challenges originate from similar roots. They come from racism and bigotry and corruption and a brokenness of our relationships. And that, I believe, is the fundamental challenge before us. How do we mend the tattered fabric of our society? How do we heal? How do we take care of one another? And that's where you come in. Today, you graduate and you continue a sacred calling to take care of your patients and provide excellent clinical care. But you are now also an ambassador of health. You will need to speak up and advocate for health in all of our systems, at the clinical level, at the social level, at the planetary level. To truly manifest the possibility of our craft, we will not only need to have a good differential diagnosis, but we must have the courage to imagine society that is fundamentally different. The call for imagination and determination is often met with skepticism. Things never change, people will say. Talking about a world in which we better take care of each other is soft stuff or unattainable stuff. But the impossible feels impossible until it doesn't. I'll tell you that my grandparents who lived through tough circumstances in India two generations ago, never would have thought I could be standing and have this honor of being here with you today. Did the UVM class of 1955 think the civil rights movement was possible? Could they think that a class in 2023 could be as diverse as yours? Change can also happen faster. I'll be honest, when I was here, we weren't having the conversations of diversity and equity inclusion that you all have only 15 years ago. And a great deal of credit goes to Dean Page, Dean Zala, Dean Donhoe, Dr. Wells, Tiffany Delaney for the kind of change that's happened. On climate change, even 10 years ago, no one thought the kind of change we've had was possible. It's an exponential explosive kind of progress that's born out of the moral courage of those who demanded a different kind of world. Change doesn't happen until it happens, but unimaginable good is happening all the time. But it only happens because of the dogged, tenacious fight of those with the conviction to create a new world in which everyone can thrive. Sure, you'll read the news and have reasons for despair, but our patients give us special access into understanding humanity. My patients here, my patients in Massachusetts and around the world have filled my heart with hope. You will have difficult patients for sure, but your patients will teach you the goodness of humanity through their vulnerability and through their stories. My patients and my six-year-old and four-year-old have made me certain that we human at our core are kind and good and generous. We are built to take care of each other. Injustice, oppression, disease are powerful forces, but love is a force that is far more powerful. We have all we need to mend what is broken. We are capable of making a healthcare system in society that is worthy of our humanity. Hope is not a passive belief. It is an active, determined orientation of the heart. It is a commitment to nurturing the creation of a better world. It is born out of the courage to show up and bear witness to the great pain and uncertainty of the world and to respond that things can be different because they must be different. So let future generations say that we stood together during a tumultuous and uncertain time in our history, that we face this moment with resilience, faith, compassion, determination, and courage. We already know that's what you're made of. I'm so honored to be a part of your special day as you take a momentous step into fulfilling your calling. Congratulations, and my heartfelt wishes for a healthy and meaningful journey ahead. Thank you so much, Dr. Basu, for your important and inspiring words. I'd now like to recognize 14 members of our faculty who are receiving emeritus status this year. It's impossible to take the full measure of the contributions made through this distinguished group. It was their mission to teach and to learn, to ask questions as well as answer them and to prepare a generation of physicians and scientists to make a difference in the world. Their names are listed in the program and we're tremendously grateful for their contributions. I would also like to take a moment to congratulate the faculty and staff who've received awards from the Class of 2023. What a great honor. Their names are likewise listed in the program. Let's acknowledge them as well, please. Now in May of 1999, medical student Krista Zela walked across this very stage to become Dr. Zela. Setting out on a career at that time to pursue pediatrics as a specialty which she still practices. But today she's professor of pediatrics and senior associate dean for medical education. There are few people more passionate about the student experience, more dedicated to student wellness and more engaged in student success. And through this very special four years, I can't imagine a finer partner to me in leading this college. It's my pleasure to welcome Dr. Zela to share her message with the Class of 2023. Please acknowledge Dr. Krista Zela. Thank you Dean Page and thank you Dr. Basu for those inspiring remarks. To the family and friends joining us today, I have the distinct honor of getting to know your graduates throughout their medical education here at the Lerner College of Medicine. And I am grateful for the relationships formed and all that they teach me. So thank you. Thank you also to our distinguished guests to Provost Prelak, to Dr. Basu's family, Suda, Kieran, and Milami, to our dedicated faculty and staff throughout Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, and New York who make educating future physicians possible. And most importantly, thank you to you, the students of the Class of 2023 who are receiving your Doctor of Medicine degrees today. I love to learn and therefore I teach. You have all taught me so much and for that I will always be grateful. As I reflected on what to share with you today, a class that has endured so much these past four years, I wanted to focus on gratitude and hope. So much has changed in yourselves, in healthcare, and of course in the world around us. Every day we are reminded of the crucial work we must do to protect human rights such as freedom, justice, equity, and access to education and healthcare. As Dr. Basu stated, you are now not just physicians but ambassadors of health. What an important way to look at your role in society. So to start, let's focus on gratitude. I am grateful that you were able to start your medical education without masks and without social distancing. This allowed you to develop relationships and connections that supported you throughout the stay home, stay safe mandate of the pandemic and beyond. I am grateful to our dedicated faculty, such as Dr. Rebecca Wilcox, who in the midst of a pandemic provided pep talks about negotiating uncertainty to give you comfort, strength, and hope. Initially, to get you through your first NMGI exam, but realistically throughout your medical education. I am grateful that you had the opportunity to engage in a full clinical medical education. And although the clinical environment was impacted by the pandemic, being there allowed you to meet patients and acquire the necessary clinical skills for your upcoming residency. I am grateful that you are not afraid of difficult conversations, being vulnerable, and advocating for what you believe is right. Most importantly, I am grateful for all that you have taught me. You have enriched our community, raised questions and participated in conversations about important issues, and contributed to the success of our medical education program, paving the way for current and future students. Now let's focus on hope. I am hopeful for the future of medicine. As I look out at your class, I can see that you remain hopeful too, resolved in your commitment to public service, actualizing your dreams of becoming a doctor, and cultivating social responsibility. I am so proud of all that you have accomplished, and I'm honored to be a part of your celebration today. This day is for you, in recognition of your hard work, your advocacy, and your many accomplishments. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is the power of disease to upend daily life in ways we never thought possible. But it has also underscored that providing medical care is work that is vital. I thank you for choosing this profession, and more importantly, your future patients, thank you, as you will have a profound impact on their health and well-being. You are desperately needed, and your commitment to taking on the role of healer has never been more universally acknowledged. I am also hopeful for our profession. I feel privileged to be a physician, and thankful for the opportunity as a pediatric hospitalist to care for the children in our community. Our system is far from perfect, as Dr. Basu mentioned, and our country is still in desperate need of physicians to equalize healthcare utilization across race, insurance coverage, and geographic locations. I encourage you to use your position as a physician to continue to advocate for change. Your voice will continue to be important throughout your career. So speak up for what is right. Be those ambassadors of health, and demonstrate kindness, respect, and cultural humility in all that you do. I hope that you will look back fondly on your time at the Lerner College of Medicine. You certainly will have stories to tell about your education during a global pandemic, the patients that have impacted you, and the state of the world. I am proud of how well you navigate new and difficult terrain, and I'm inspired by your ability to adapt to the demands of medical school and to chart your own path to success in medicine. You are well-prepared to go out in the world and serve patients. After all, that is why you came here. I am honored to have you join me as a fellow UVM learner alum. Although we are parting ways today, I don't view this as a goodbye, but as a continuation of our journey together. Keep in touch and stay connected with us, with each other, with mentors, family, and friends. You will benefit from that continued support throughout your career. The future is a source of hope. Congratulations to all the members of the Class of 2023. Best wishes on this special day, and I look forward to hearing from you periodically and catching up at reunions. Thank you. It is now my distinct pleasure to introduce your classmate, Daniel Castro, a member of the Class of 2023 who was selected as this year's student speaker. Daniel or Dr. Castro is from Hamilton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular and Environmental Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. As a learner college of medicine student, Daniel received the Wellness Award in 2021 from his peers in recognition of, quote, going above and beyond to help his classmates. He also served as a home healthcare provider assisted in vaccine delivery to migrant farm workers in rural Vermont and provided point of care ultrasound instruction to junior medical students. This summer, he will begin his residency in emergency medicine at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. Please join me in welcoming Daniel Castro to the lectern. Esteemed faculty, family, friends, loved ones. I wanna thank you for coming to the Ira Allen Chapel to celebrate the graduation of the incredible, the intrepid and the incomparable Larner College of Medicine, class of 2023. My name is Daniel Castro and as a member of the class of 23, there are so many things that I could say regarding the tenacity, the compassion, and the kindness that defines our class. But instead, today I'd like to tell you the story of our class through a poem I wrote. The people you are, the patients you'll see by Daniel Castro. Congratulations, you've done it. We're now at the end. We're now all MDs with a new road to content. But let us think back on how far we've come. Back to year one and the foundations hum from. I'll sat in our seats with no learning done yet. We met in 200 seeing Steve Aversa's silhouette. Thrilled and excited as we looked forward in time, reality soon sunk in as we were crushed by Krebs cycle enzymes. Histo, cell bio, genetics galore, anatomy and concepts and modules more and more, integrated interdisciplinary all taught by the score, all while realizing we're still on the ground floor. But plug on we did and we were soon a close class, not just a random assortment of people drowning in a medicine morass. We studied in groups. We found our friends too, the ones who would support us when our brains were turning to goo. Foundations we got through so on to A and D. Bugs and drugs and then maybe a ski. We survived Billy Razz and his band of bacterium. I'd even venture to say we all had some fun. Then NMGI carried the most wretched plot twists. COVID reared its gross head and we were all quickly dismissed, stuck in our homes with no places to go. We soldiered on studying, though no skiing at Stowe. The semester flew past, not before spinal tracks confused us. We made it to year's end and eight week vacation a must. We returned to connections to CRR and embryos, all the bits and pieces of just how a nervous system grows. Second year quickly dragged us to the dreaded step one, yet our hard work prevailed as dedicated had begun. With our eyes on the prize, the clinical years would comprise a litany of late nights, early mornings, a workload not remotely pint-sized. Yet we hung tough through all that, through Gensurge, OB and IM, through the peeds rotations and four-year-olds full of green phlegm. During third year we found out what we're capable of, of great deeds, great compassion, a necessity of self-love, because medicine has a habit of breaking you down, of pushing your limits, of knocking your emotions around. I'm sorry to say so, but sadly it's true that bang-ups and hang-ups will happen to you. Nevertheless, I've seen resilience untold of picking yourselves and friends up genuinely inspiring to behold. I'm here to say that I'm proud of this class. We made it through fourth year. We made it through med school, with our brains still intact. Specialties in gas, opto and EM, in Gensurge and neuro and all others, my friends. Residency is ahead and I know you'll do well, because I studied beside you and know you're capable as hell. Still, here are a few things to mention before long shifts and disease. Let's be reminded of the honor of seeing the patients you'll see. Be kind, be human and remember to care. We are the guardians against our sick patients to spare. Give grace to yourself and know that you've earned your place there. Know that the person you are is a person most rare. And lastly, please know just how lucky we are to lead the lives we live now that we're not smashing the Anki space bar. My friends, thank you for being amazing people. My classmates, thank you for being along for this ride. I know there are no other MDs I'd rather have by my side. Thank you. Dr. Castro, that was amazing. Thank you. The time's arrived. Are we ready? Yeah, about time. It's now my great pleasure to invite the medical students in the class of 2023 to come forward to receive their hoods and diplomas. Dr. Catherine Huggat, Assistant Dean for Medical Education will be reading your names and Dr. Karen George, Associate Dean for Students will be assisting Dean Zala in hooding today. Dr. Cyrus Neil Thomas Walker. Dr. Victor Manuel Abraham II. Dr. Isaac Frazier Adams, who is being hooded today by his brother, Dr. Curtis Adams, a 2017 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Rachel D. Adelsheim. Dr. Dinkar Ohuja. Dr. Raj Arora. Dr. Nivedita Badrinavrayanan. Dr. Elizabeth Marie Zagroba Barker, who is being hooded today by her mother, Dr. Marie Zagroba, a 1987 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Mikayla Barofio, who is being hooded today by Dr. Mariah McNamara, Assistant Dean for Students and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Isadora Rose Beach. Dr. Emily L. Bennett. Dr. Jacob William Birknoff. Dr. Ashta Narayan Berge. Dr. Bradley Alexander Blansky. Dr. Brittany Ann Botticelli. Dr. Valerie C. Braddock. Dr. Michael Scott Brown. Dr. William Brown. Dr. Kari Ellinghouse Carpenter. Dr. Jordan Alexander Carver. Dr. Daniel Mark Castro. Who is being hooded today by his brother, Dr. Alejandro Castro, Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Sundi Kaus. Dr. Alexander J. Kavart. Dr. Anna Benedicte Chambi. Dr. Sydney Elizabeth Chatfield. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Ellen Kulaga, Associate Dean of Students at the Clinical Branch Campus in Connecticut. Dr. Madeleine Fritz Chittineni. Who is being hooded today by her husband, Dr. Vivek Chittineni, Clinical Instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology. Dr. Alex Harris Cohen. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Louis First, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. James Steven Contampasas. Who is being hooded today by his father, Dr. Steven Contampasas, Associate Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus. Dr. Anna M. Corbalon. Who is being hooded today by her cousin, Dr. Paco Corbalon, a 2012 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Lauren P. Corritt. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Ellen Kulaga. Dr. Ryan Paul Kanoyer. Dr. Elena Nicole Danski. Who is being hooded by her aunt, Dr. Gerald Kirschner, a 1980 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Isaac Aurelia Delebrière. Dr. Kevin DiBona. Dr. Nathan E. Dow. Dr. Caitlin Ann Dowling. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Ellen Kulaga. Dr. Emma Cooper Dunn. Dr. Grace E. Eisenbeegler. Dr. Jenna Antoine Elcuri. Dr. Nigar Esfandieri. Dr. Megan Nicole Eubank. Dr. Julia Evans. Dr. Lude H. Yasu. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Ellen Kulaga and Dr. Mariah McNamara. Dr. Joel S. Feier. Dr. Nina Feinberg. Dr. Christopher Ryan Flynn. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Jonathan Flyer, Associate Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Agatha Ruth Forstein. Dr. Sean Richard Fox. Dr. Helen Isadora Gandler. Dr. Evan James Gaston. Who is being hooded today by his sister, Dr. Cara Jane Sexton, a 2010 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Charlotte Betel-Jeans. Thank you, sister. Dr. Brittany L. Gilmore. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Ellen Kulaga. Dr. Amy Blumkin Gollinger. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Anya Streeter, Associate Professor of Family Medicine. Dr. Katrina Marie Goulet. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Louis First. Dr. Warren Alexander Grunwald. Who is being hooded today by his brother, Dr. Miles Grunwald, a 2018 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Luke Allen Holgarth. Dr. Matthew Charles Hanna. Dr. Sebastian S. Hanna. Dr. Liam Virgesi John. Dr. Keisha Kahlra. Dr. Michael Kelleher. Dr. Kyle James Kellett. Dr. Sarah Gale Patch Kendrick. Dr. Adam Felix Kohatnicki. Dr. Michael Jacob Koleba Lawler. Dr. Naomi Eliana Moon Koleba Lawler. Who is being hooded today by her father, Dr. Chris Koleba, Professor Emeritus at the University of Vermont College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dr. Jason Christopher Locke. Dr. Amber Lee Adiaz Lau. Dr. Tiffany Lauren Lau. Dr. Michael Andrew Lawson. Who is being hooded today by his mother, Dr. Jennifer Lawson and Dr. Jeff Lawson, who are both 1990 graduates of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Stellar Rose Levy. Dr. Kira Meredith Lin. Dr. Leanna Karen Mathias. Dr. Shivani Mather. Dr. Kayla Shirin Menendez. Dr. Lucy L. Miriam. Dr. Daniel James Moroney. Dr. Sean Munez. Dr. Lara Alexandra Murnick. Dr. Megan Rose Nielsen. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Bridget Meriquin, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology. Dr. Alexandra E. Novelli. Dr. Mark Oet. Dr. Lauren Okamoto. Dr. Emily Hannah Oliver. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Ellen Kulaga. Dr. Zachary Thomas Osborn. Dr. Julia B. Perks. Dr. Kara S. Rathmel. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Howard Shapiro, Associate Professor Emeritus and past Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. And Dr. Ben Kagan, a 2022 graduate of the Larner College of Medicine. Dr. Jennifer Lee Risi. Dr. Alexa Winslow Rosenthal. Dr. Diana Amir Edward Salama. Dr. McKayla M. Salusti Simpson. Dr. McKenna Lauren Schimmel. Dr. Samantha Rowan Schuetz. Dr. Justin Gregory Schultz. Dr. Grant McCullen Schumacher. Dr. Young Bo Sim. Dr. Anish Mohan Singel. Dr. Zachary Tyler Smith. Dr. Ashwin Kumar, Suriyak Kumar. Who is being hooded today by Dr. Ellen Kulaga. Dr. Amy Virginia Stedman. Dr. Delaney Stryker. Dr. Joseph Michael Teague. Dr. Carly Helen Watson. Dr. Benjamin Weaver. And lastly, Dr. Ariella Yazdani. Hooded today by Dr. Natalie Feldman, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. I want to thank Dr. Huggit, Dr. George, Dr. Zayla, and Dr. Everett, who was handing me all those diplomas. Congratulations, I'm receiving your diploma. The only thing standing between you and being a doctor is the oath. And I was reminded of the importance of oaths as I saw two of your class receive their commissions as lieutenants in the Navy and take an oath swearing allegiance to the Constitution. Now we're going to take the oath of our profession. I'm going to ask members of the class of 2023 and members of our platform party to stand. This is the recitation of a statement that marks a new physician's entry into the ranks of medicine and serves to remind all physicians of their commitment to the profession. The oath expresses the wisdom and ideals of centuries of physicians, from Hippocrates to today's graduates. I also invite any physician faculty and any other physicians among us who wish to renew this pledge to stand and recite the oath with us. You'll find this on the last page of the program. We're going to do this in sequence. I'll say the line and you repeat after me. Are we ready? I swear to fulfill to the best of my ability this covenant. I will respect the scientific gains of those physicians and scientists in whose step I will walk and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow. I will remember that there is both art and science to medicine. I will pursue the expansion of my knowledge throughout my life for the benefit of my patients. I will practice medicine with conscience and dignity. I will respect the privacy of my patients and will not judge them. I will prevent disease whenever I can for prevention is preferable to cure. Most especially, I will tread with care in matters of life and death. If it be merely within my abilities to help ease suffering at the end of a life, may I face this awesome responsibility with humility and awareness of my own frailty. I vow always to act to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help. Congratulations, doctors. Please be seated. Okay, please be seated. I wanna thank this class for the contributions you've made to our college and to our community. I have no doubt that you will accomplish great things and I'm excited for what lies ahead for each and every one of you. I look forward to the times when you come back for a reunion and share time with us and with your classmates at this very special place where your medical career began. We've been talking about a century henceforth. Some of us will be there, but 50 years from now will be our 50th reunion. It's amazing to have members of the class celebrating their 50th reunion here back in Burlington. It'll be in a wink of an eye. Come back, you'll get a special cool medallion when you do. Just saying. In closing, I gotta celebrate the fact that we've done it and you've done it. I wanna thank everyone who was involved in making this event possible. You make it look easy. We know it isn't. So thank you for the staff who are all behind the scenes here. I also wanna thank everybody in attendance today. Honored guests, Provost Prelock who's had a really long day, college leaders, faculty, staff, alumni and so many friends and family of the class of 2023, both here in person and online. What an amazing event. We're so fortunate to share this time together. And now I would like to ask faculty Marshal, Dr. Mary Cushman to close this ceremony. Dr. Cushman. You did it. Woohoo. Thank you for joining us today. We invite you to continue the celebration with a reception in the Grand Maple Ballroom of the Deadly Davis Center, the beautiful Davis Center. The Davis Center is a short walk across campus or shuttle buses are also available in the front of the Ira Allen Chapel. Please remain seated until our final student has left the chapel. I apologize about all this, but it's necessary. Following the recessional, we would like all members of the class of 2023 to assemble promptly on the front steps of the Ira Allen Chapel for the official class photo. And I ask everyone else to kindly use the side doors on your right to exit or wait until the photo has been taken to exit via the main doors. I hereby declare these proceedings closed. Thank you.