{"id":130248,"date":"2025-02-04T15:06:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T20:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?post_type=bu-article&p=130248"},"modified":"2025-04-18T15:21:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T19:21:31","slug":"at-gms-convocation-students-urged-to-make-an-impact-on-the-world","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/medicine\/articles\/2025\/at-gms-convocation-students-urged-to-make-an-impact-on-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"At GMS Convocation, Students Urged to Make an Impact on the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAt GMS Convocation, Students Urged to Make an Impact on the World\u00a0\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Told to make a difference with their education, training.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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On May 16, Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS) students, their families, friends, and faculty assembled at the BU Track & Tennis Center for the convocation ceremony marking a joyous passage in academic life. C. James McKnight, PhD, associate provost and GMS dean, urged graduates to make an impact on the world and in their own lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou must continue to make a difference with the education and training you have received in your time here,\u201d said McKnight. \u201cNot just professionally; you should continue to make a difference in your families and your communities. Be involved, take care of the world, be engaged, and speak out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe diploma you get today is the credential that grants you entry to the next stage of your life,\u201d said Medical Campus Provost and Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Dean Karen Antman, MD. \u201cThe faculty have great confidence in your creativity, resilience, collaboration, and commitment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student speaker Brent Leung of Toronto, Canada, graduated from the Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MAMS) program\u2014one of the oldest and most successful special master\u2019s programs in the US that has prepared more than 3,000 students for medical school since 1989\u2014and is headed into the University\u2019s MD program this fall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He fondly recalled studying electron microscope slides on his laptop when friends and other MAMS students spontaneously gathered around to help him in one of the informal learning sessions that continued throughout his two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBonding over practice questions, writing out pathways on whiteboards, going out for drinks after an exam\u2014these are the memories that come to mind when I reflect on the past two years,\u201d said Leung. \u201cWhile I don\u2019t know what the future holds for all of us, I do know that we all have the capacity to succeed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representing the Physician Assistant (PA) program, student speaker and Texas native Ellie McIntosh admitted fainting during the first surgery she attended as a high school student and described an undergraduate journey that shifted through four majors until she graduated with a degree in finance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working at an OB\/GYN clinic in Dallas brought her back into medical science and healthcare, which she will practice as a PA in Boston. Like Leung, she spoke of the support she received from her classmates, faculty, family, and friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy charge to you is to not let this fervor for life dissipate on those grueling days that will inevitably come as we continue this roller coaster of life,\u201d McIntosh said. \u201cWe can treat, heal, and interact with people of all different backgrounds and socioeconomic status and help them fight for a truly better tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MS student speaker Aris Desai, also a Texas native who will return there to do research, echoed iconic New England poet Robert Frost. \u201cThe road less traveled is often rugged, and less signposted perhaps, but it is ripe with the promise of personal growth and discovery,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach lab experiment, each patient case study, and each research project was an opportunity to choose resilience over resignation, curiosity over complacency, persistence over surrender,\u201d he reflected. \u201cIt is a testament to the idea that success is not just in the destination, but also in the journey.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-three Master of Arts, 323 Master of Science, and 10 combined Master of Science\/Master of Public Health degrees were awarded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the GMS Convocation, students were encouraged to use their newfound education and training to make a positive impact on the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12906,"featured_media":130249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Campus News","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[392,383,393],"bu-publication":[366],"medicine-article-category":[369],"medicine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[381],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/130248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12906"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/130248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133432,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/130248\/revisions\/133432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130248"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=130248"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-article-category?post=130248"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-topic?post=130248"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=130248"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=130248"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=130248"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=130248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}