By Hemesh Patel
Daily Bruin Contributor
Reaching a turning point in their path toward a profession
dating back 2,500 years, 160 students connected themselves to the
ancient times of Hippocrates and his famous oath for the physician
Friday.
More than 3,000 guests in Perloff Quad that evening witnessed
the medical school’s commencement ceremony.
Gerald Levey, dean of the UCLA Medical School, administered the
Hippocratic Oath to the 46th graduating class.
“The Hippocratic oath is steeped in tradition,”
Levey said. “In the original Oath of Hippocrates, he promised
to teach the art to others ““ we honor those on our faculty as
well.”
Levey applauded the medical school’s new group of
graduates for their accomplishments.
“The class of 2000 has been an enterprising one, with so
many new programs. The legacy you are leaving is extensive,”
Levey told the class.
Gabriel Lopez, president of his class for four years, described
his group as a “class of firsts.”
He said that his group began the annual white coat ceremony in
1996, where faculty members and student-physicians are welcomed
into the medical community by being “˜cloaked’ with
their first white cloaks.
They also began a service of remembrance and thanksgiving
ceremony for cadavers.
It was also the first class to partake in a medical Spanish
class, a course structured around medical themes including hospital
admissions, cancer and pediatrics, he said.
“In essence our class represented initiative, leadership
and creativity. As a class of firsts, it seems only fitting that we
are the first UCLA medical class to graduate in the 21st
century,” Lopez said.
Lopez commented on the unity of the group of new graduates.
“As I stand here today four years later, I truly believe
that since day one, we were a family,” Lopez said. “We
are blessed to have known each other and it is friendships that
will continue.”
Lopez honored Janine Gonzalez, one of his peers who passed away,
with a moment of silence.
Another student, Kenneth Lin, presented a speech to his peers
and to the crowd.
Lin quoted Robert Fulghum’s book, “All I Really Need
to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” as he described his
four-year experience as a medical student at UCLA.
“Share everything, play fair … clean up your own messes,
say you are sorry before you hurt someone … flush,” Lin
said.
“Live a balanced life, take a nap every afternoon, be
aware of the wonder around you,” he continued.
Lin added that at UCLA all these bits of advice have proven to
be true as he continued to say that taking care of patients is a
privilege.
He emphasized that every patient from the homeless in the ER to
the newborn baby must be taken care of.
Lin also gave the crowd an insight on the difficulties
associated with becoming a physician.
“The hospital is a scary place. It’s one of those
few places where people cry every day,” he said.
For some students there was an added challenge of managing a
family.
“I got married during medical school and became pregnant
in May,” said Veena Ranganath, one of the new graduates.
“It was actually a challenge in itself, but these were
actually the best four years of my life.”
In an effort to reflect upon the diversity of the medical school
class, Dave Myler, director of Pastoral Care, asked students to say
the phrase “May we leave here to cure when possible, and to
cure always” in their native tongues.
The students recited it in 20 tongues, including German, Hindi
and Spanish.
In addition to the student speeches, Jordan Cohen, president of
the Association of American Medical Colleges, spoke on the issue of
Digital Medicine: the Promise and the Peril.
“The world of medicine you are entering is so different it
boggles the mind.” said Cohen, who received his medical
degree 40 years ago.
Cohen spoke of the Internet and some sites offering free medical
advice from doctors while other sites offered to keep track of the
medicine patients take, informing pharmacies when drugs are running
low.
“In my time, a mouse was a rodent, a keyboard was a
musical instrument and real time was the only time there
was,” Cohen said.
Cohen also described the downside to digital medicine.
“Some of the most complex tasks involve discretionary
judgment to draw valid conclusions and to combine reason and
understanding ““ discretionary judgment cannot be
digitized,” he said.
Throughout the ceremony, a number of awards were given out,
honoring excellence in teaching and in academics.
“As physicians, let us continue our stamp of commitment,
sense of family and leadership,” Lopez said.