Don’t Wait to Come Back: BUSM Alumni Weekend 2019

Falling leaves. Cooler weather. Autumnal spices. Alumni returning to campus. All represent the best parts of the season and perfectly compliment BUSM Alumni Weekend.

This year’s festivities included an open house, student-led campus tours, the Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, and of course, the alumni reception and class dinners held at the Sheraton Boston.

New to this year’s event was the Deans’ Town Hall. The Saturday afternoon open forum provided an opportunity for alumni to discuss the state of the school with key leadership, including Dean Karen Antman, MD; Priya Garg, MD, Associate Dean for Medical Education; and Kristen Goodell, MD, Associate Dean for Admissions, as well as two current students, Madhura Shah, MED’23, and Stuart Armstrong, MED’20. The goal of the casual get-together was to update alumni on the exciting changes and challenges in medical school and campus life.

L: Karen Antman, Priya Garg and Kristen Goodell | R: Madhura Shah and Stuart Armstrong

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Dean Antman provided a recap of the LCME accreditation, touted the success of the overall University development campaign, and urged the importance of BUSM’s scholarship efforts in the midst of the free tuition trend at other medical schools.

Diana Perry, MED’94, offered some advice to the students in the crowd and on the panel: “I am so proud to be sitting here with my classmates from 1994. We haven’t been back to this campus for 25 years. My advice to the students sitting up there: once you leave and go off to do your residencies, don’t wait 25+ years to come back!” Dr. Perry brought her daughter, a junior in high school, and asked for words of wisdom about becoming a future doctor.

Alumni from the Class of 1994, including Dr. Diana Perry and her daughter (left).

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“Do whatever you can to get yourself into an environment where you are taking care of patients in some way,” advised Dr. Goodell. “When I’m reading applications, some truly meaningful, sincere words of clarity come from students that have these experiences.”

Dr. Garg explained the intricacies of today’s curriculum and where she sees it going: “We’re hoping in 2022, we’ll have more of a case-based, integrated curriculum. Our Doctoring curriculum is focused on communication skills, physical exams and clinical reasoning. We are thinking about how to embed the mission of the school into the curriculum.”

Other topics of discussion included patient simulation, clerkships, student and faculty demographic breakdown, class attendance and flexible learning, electronic health records and patient interaction, and the importance of coming back to campus. The event closed with a special performance from the student a cappella group, The Doctors’ Notes.

After the afternoon on campus, attendees regrouped at the Sheraton Boston for an elegant evening reception and class dinners – the perfect way to celebrate with friends on a crisp, fall night in New England!