May 24, 2024 | Jon Kelvey
The University of Maryland School of Medicine Celebrates its 215th Graduation Ceremony
Graduates in the Class of 2024 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) gathered at the Hippodrome Theatre on May16, along with their families, friends, and School of Medicine faculty and staff, to celebrate their official transition from medical students to physicians. UMSOM Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor, presided over the ceremony marking his second UMSOM graduation as the 31st dean of the School. The graduating class of 142 physicians received their doctoral hoods in front of the assembled audience. Several graduates earned combined MD/Masters and MD/PhD degrees.
In his direct address to the class, Dean Gladwin focused on the “gray tsunami” that would be confronting this new generation of doctors and require a deep understanding of geriatrics and age being a primary risk factor for disease. “As physicians, even as newly minted interns on the wards, you will be considered role models in what you say and do,” Dean Gladwin said. “You will have to communicate what you’ve learned through the COVID-19 pandemic about science, and knowledge, and compassion.”
In addition to remarks from Dean Gladwin and selected faculty and students, the ceremony also featured a keynote address to the Class of 2024 by Martine Rothblatt PhD, JD, MBA, Chairperson and CEO of United Therapeutics, and inventor of SiriusXM Satellite Radio. She was presented with a Dean’s Distinguished Gold Medal in recognition of her high-impact contributions in medicine and science and in acknowledgement of her commitment to significantly improving the health and well-being of humankind.
United Therapeutics, the biotech company founded by Dr. Rothblatt, helped fund and establish the Cardiac Xenotransplantation Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, which led to the world’s first two transplants of genetically-modified pig organs into living patients.
Dr. Rothblatt’s inspiring keynote address focused on the need for doctors to pursue new treatments for “incurable” diseases despite formidable odds of success and forces pushing against them. She spoke movingly of the fight she waged to find a cure for her young daughter’s life-threatening illness, which led her to found a biotech company and raise money to test a potential treatment. “Two decades later, she is still alive,” Dr. Rothblatt said.
She provided this advice to the graduating students: “You have 360 degrees of application for the medical degrees you are receiving today. In them you will find the toolkits to transform human health, from one-on-one patient care visits, to unfairly neglected communities, to our ongoing battle against literally thousands of diseases, many of which do not yet have cures.”
Zachary Brilliant was presented with the Balder Scholarship Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. He will complete his residency in urology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Steven Joseph Gercken, Katherine Potocka, and Emma Hannah Silverman were awarded with the Faculty Gold Medal for Outstanding Qualifications for the Practice of Medicine. Dr. Gercken will complete his residency in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Potocka will complete her residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Silverman will complete her residency in internal medicine/emergency medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
UMSOM Graduation 2024 Highlights Video
Graduation 2024 Photo Gallery
Contact
Jon Kelvey
Senior Writer
Office of Public Affairs and Communications
University of Maryland School of Medicine
JKelvey@som.umaryland.edu
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