(upbeat piano music)
>> Good afternoon and welcome.
My name is Paul Rothman and I am the CEO
and the Dean of the Medical Faculty
here at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
It is my privilege to speak to you today
on the memorable occasion to celebrate you,
our esteemed graduates in the
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, class of 2020.
You should be incredibly proud of yourselves.
You have succeeded in one of the country's
most rigorous programs.
A true testament to your hard work and talent.
I also want to acknowledge the family and friends
who have supported you in innumerable ways
over the past several years.
All of you played a key role in helping
our graduates reach this point, so thank you.
This is truly an exciting moment for our
new MD's and PhD's,
the Masters of Arts,
and the Masters of Science.
These degrees open up great possibilities for you.
Whether you're moving on to a residency,
a post-doctoral fellowship,
a teaching position,
a job in industry,
or another professional stepping stone,
today marks the beginning of an exciting
new chapter for you.
For our graduating medical students,
I know you will touch the lives of many patients
through your compassionate and skillful care.
For the PhD's, you are forging
ahead in an era of unprecedented opportunity in science.
I want to say a few words about the pandemic.
For the past several months,
we have all been consumed with COVID-19.
All of you who are graduating from the school of medicine
are to be commended for how you dealt with
this extraordinary and unique situation.
You have rolled with the interruptions and changes
that the pandemic has brought to your training
and to your lives.
This crisis has shown very clearly
the true urgency and importance
of the clinical care and research we perform
here at Johns Hopkins.
You're going forth into a world that has a great demand
for your energy, expertise,
and idealism.
This pandemic has focused our attention
on a range of complex issues facing our healthcare system
and our society.
It may be hard to imagine now,
but the pandemic will eventually recede,
and life will slowly return to something closer
to it's pre-COVID patterns.
When this happens,
you will have an extraordinary opportunity to help
solve these problems.
But today,
I want to focus not on COVID
or on the pressing issues facing healthcare,
but on you.
Today you've reached a momentous milestone.
You will now embark
on a new phase in your career and your life.
Your efforts,
all those late nights studying,
laboring in the lab,
working on the wards have born fruit.
Today, I offer you my profound
and heartfelt congratulations.
Enjoy your triumph.
You deserve it.
You who are graduating today,
you'll be the ones to take healthcare to the next level.
Making discoveries, and coming up with
innovations that will help thousands,
or perhaps millions of people.
You might focus on COVID-19,
on precision medicine,
neuroscience,
cancer,
immunotherapy,
the social determinants of health,
or one of any other thousand possibilities.
But wherever you focus your energies,
you will be the ones to bring about positive
social change,
increasing opportunities for those who don't have them,
and are helping those who live in unhealthy circumstances,
increasing their chances of living long, healthy lives.
In conclusion,
I want to thank you today.
And welcome you.
And reflect on a long tradition of excellence
you are continuing as graduates of this institution.
I'm excited to see what all of you will accomplish
here at Hopkins or elsewhere.
You'll be the ones to write the stories of the next century
of science and medicine.
I've no doubt you will receive the
incredible opportunities before you
to help expand the promise of medicine,
just as your predecessors have done in the past.
Congratulations.