Over 300 Graduate Medical Sciences students crossed the stage at the 2025 Master’s and MD & PhD convocation ceremonies, held Thursday, May 15 at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center.
The Master’s Ceremony started at 10 a.m., followed by the MD & PhD Ceremony at 3 p.m. Graduates from August 2024 and January 2025, as well as degree candidates from May 2025 and August 2025, participated.
As of May 2025, GMS has conferred the following degrees:
- 42 PhD
- 5 MD/PhD
- 35 MA
- 322 MS
- 2 MS/MPH
- 2 MS/MS
- 1 MA/MS
GMS will soon confer degrees to August 2025 degree candidates.
Four students spoke at this year’s ceremonies.
Joshua Kidwell, Cynthia Ordoñez Salguero and Yousuf Al Naseri spoke at the Master’s Ceremony, and Jhonatan Henao Vasquez spoke at the MD & PhD Ceremony. The four speakers were nominated by their programs and selected by a committee of GMS representatives.
Kidwell represented the Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MAMS) program. He matriculated into GMS in 2023 and will soon pursue his medical degree at Creighton University School of Medicine. This summer, he plans to finish out his work at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and take a road trip to see family and friends.
Ordoñez Salguero spoke on behalf of the Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine (MHCBM) Program. During her time in GMS, she completed an internship in the Pediatric and Adolescent Clinic at Boston Medical Center. She is also a talented artist whose work was displayed in the GMS Suite for one month. Ordoñez Salguero plans to spend the summer relaxing, painting, and spending time with loved ones.
Al Naseri is a degree candidate in the Master of Science in Oral Health Sciences (OHS) program. In his time at GMS, Al Naseri also volunteered as a mentor for first-generation students through the Community Catalyst Center. He will matriculate into the BU Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine in July, where he will pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a dentist.
Henao Vasquez is a PhD graduate of the Graduate Program in Molecular and Translational Medicine. He matriculated into GMS in 2019 through the Program in Biomedical Sciences (PiBS) and completed his dissertation research at the BU Pulmonary Center under Associate Professor of Medicine Matthew Jones, PhD, and Professor of Medicine Alan Fine, MD. Following Commencement, he plans to return to the biotech industry.
Read more about our Commencement speakers here.
The ceremonies included speeches from BU Medical Campus Provost and Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Dean Karen Antman, MD, and Associate Provost and Dean of Graduate Medical Sciences C. James McKnight, PhD. Pulitzer Prize winning health, science and medicine investigative journalist Sheri Fink, MD, PhD, delivered the keynote address at the afternoon MD & PhD ceremony.
Read more about the Master’s Convocation Ceremony here and the MD & PhD Convocation Ceremony here.
Recordings of both ceremonies are available under the “Livestreams” section of the GMS Convocation Weekend website. Facebook albums of the Master’s Ceremony and the MD & PhD Ceremony are now available for viewing.
Congratulations to our graduates!