Celebrating Success! GMS Commencement Images on BUSM Facebook
On Friday, May 16, the BUSM GMS Class of 2014 gathered in Metcalf Hall to celebrate commencement. See them on BUSM Facebook!
Celebrating Success! Division of Graduate Medical Sciences 2014 Commencement
“Your degree empowers you not just as scientists, researchers, clinicians, and health professionals but as critical thinkers, problem solvers and advocates,” said Associate Provost for the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS) Linda Hyman, PhD, to the 180 master’s degree graduates of 19 of the division’s programs. “This is a great day and we, your parents, friends, colleagues, teachers and mentors are here to celebrate you – your success, hard work, accomplishments, and your efforts to get to where you are today. I hope you leave BU with the knowledge that you have done well, and that you have the confidence to use your talents widely.”
The commencement ceremony, held on May 16 in Metcalf Hall of the George Sherman Union, featured three student speakers. “It has been an honor to be a part of this community of healing these past two years,” Jonathan Waldo, earning a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine, told his fellow GMS graduates. “In reflecting on the nature of our field, I’ve recognized that when we invest our time in the lives of others we often gain insight into our own lives, our struggles, our hopes and our strengths. Our horizon beckons, and we are prepared.”
Brian Fry, receiving his Master of Arts in Medical Sciences degree, noted that, “As we move forward with the degrees we have earned today, we’re going to be a part of a rapidly changing landscape of health care, health policy and health sciences research. Many of the people and organizations that will desperately need to change will also be the most resistant to that change. It will be up to us to inspire action and lead by example. It is my hope that we welcome change and personal growth by chasing future, better versions of ourselves. We owe it to our future patients, clients and colleagues to never settle for anything but our very best.”
One of seven graduates of the GMS Bioimaging program and an accepted GMS doctoral student for the fall of 2014, Lauren Zajac reflected on her belief that art and science are the same, noting that in the Bioimaging program students work with images. “We behave as critics, curators, and artists. Interpreting a medical or biological image requires a set of skills similar to those required to interpret a work of art. Both artistic and biological images are representations, carry information and are the products of human experimentation. The process of creating art is a science, and the scientific pursuit of a question is truly an art. The two are intertwined and inseparable,” she said. “Great artists develop methods to produce the works we see in a gallery or museum. In a similar way, great scientists, through trial and error, develop methods to produce work that beautifully demonstrates a particular idea or model.”