The Speech
“Now that you know everything…”
Ladies and Gentlemen, parents, families, and friends, my fellow classmates, and the fine faculty and staff of the University of Arizona College of Medicine… I stand before you today with significantly less hair than I had four years ago. This has been the most exhausting, binding, challenging, inspiring, fantastic, and liberating experience of my entire life, and I thank all of you. To say that I am honored to have been asked to speak with everyone today is a gross understatement. When I look across this sea of faces and consider the talent, the intelligence, the manual dexterity, and of course the classic good looks of this group, I am both flattered and intimidated.
I pondered long and hard to come up with something novel and clever (the emphasis, of course being clever) I could bestow upon you that you didn’t already know, and failed miserably. My friends, these guys are really sharp.
So, now that you know everything, what can I say to you? We can reminisce a little about the first days of school. Go back with me, breathe it in. What were you doing when you received your acceptance letter? How did you pick your first study partners? What was the name of you cadaver in Gross Anatomy? And did I really fight to get a seat in the first couple rows of the lecture hall? We studied hard and played hard, some of us more than others in the latter category. That was a long time ago. I find it hard to believe we were really as naïve and fancy free as the freshmen I taught in physical exam this semester. Through all the novelty and excitement we traveled onward.
In addition to the good times, there have also been some tragedies and hurdles along the way…September 11, 2001. I sat on the floor of my bedroom watching the towers fall, not certain whether it was real, and praying for my brother who lived within a couple miles of the Pentagon. I remember that horrible day in the College of Nursing where we lost three colleagues, and the concerns of family who saw it play out on national TV while we were quarantined to the College of Medicine for our own safety. Many of us have lost loved ones, parents, grandparents, siblings, and others. Not to mention academic difficulties and the strains of interpersonal relationships contributed to by our direction in life. Through all the pain and stress we traveled onward.
What else? There have been changes in politics, we have gone to war, and Must See TV is no longer must see TV. We have birthed babies, found life-long friends and companions, and touched people’s lives in ways we never imagined. We began this journey only four years ago, but the world into which we will be journeying is a far different place than that first day in Rio Rico. Different. No better, no worse, despite what the politicians would have you believe, but definitely different.
Out of all these things, what will you take with you from these hallowed halls? What were your shining moments? Acing that Neuro exam? Late nights in the anatomy lab? Passing Step 1, or your first time in the surgery suite? Maybe it was that time that Goldman didn’t call you a “numb nut.” I have to admit, mine, and this brings a tear to my eye… was the production of 184 pies in the kitchen, dining room, and living room of my house in our Toys for Tots fundraiser. To watch all of you come together in the clutch for something that had no direct benefit associated with it, no credit, no financial gain, and pull off such a generous feat honestly gave me faith in mankind.
We have traveled a long way together, and it is with all of this in mind, that I impart a handful of challenges to you as we begin residency and leave the purely academic life.
1) I challenge you to work hard. This one should be easy. You wouldn’t be here with us tonight if you hadn’t figured this one out already.
I think I speak for most of us when I say we have never worked this hard for anything in your entire life. Don’t quit now. Just enjoy the challenges of a new level and learn as much as you can. And for that select few of you who didn’t work hard in medical school, I say if you can do more, then do more. Live up to your potential.
2) I challenge you to do no harm. This should be followed in your personal life as well.
The human body and spirit are remarkably strong. It can withstand your medical assaults and still get better, oftentimes without any regard to what you did. If you don’t know what you are doing, ask for help. We are still in training. If we are truly smart, we will always be in training.
3) I challenge you to take responsibility for what you do, who you are, and the position you will now occupy in the lives of others.
This is no small task. Believe it or not, your words and actions will begin to matter. We have assumed a tremendous burden to oversee the gates between sickness and health and life and death. Our patients will have confidence in us, even if we do not have it in ourselves. Shifting blame, side stepping issues, and ignoring the problem are no longer an option. How great of a world would this be if everyone realized the problems and simply did what they could do to fix them? Embrace the responsibility.
4) I challenge you to give back. Give back to your family. Give back to your friends. Give back to your community. Give back to those who least expect it.
No matter how smart and talented you are, or how smart and talented you THINK you are, you never would have made it here without the help of others. Your Mom, your Dad, the doctor you had as a kid, Jimmy from undergrad, your study partner, the classmate who first encouraged you to run for class rep, or the good people at the Coca Cola bottling company and Coffee X Change. These people carried you, whether you like it or not. Give them their due, and pass on the favor to others. Be a mentor. Be there for your loved ones. We are only as good as we do for others. This, challenge alone, I guarantee, will make you a better person.
5) I challenge you to be nice to the people who work with you and especially those who work for you.
Our practices will only be as strong as our support staff. Nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists, and countless others will know more than you. Not just at the start of your career, but always. When was the last time you drew blood, spent the night in a room with a patient or their family, or recited all the interactions of common blood pressure medicines? You will depend on these people every day. They may technically be lower on the food chain of traditional medicine, but their input is no less important than yours. And just remember, it is amazing how far a kind word and a box of donuts will carry you. Almost all is forgiven when Krispy Kreme is involved.
6) I challenge you to listen. Listen to you patients. Listen to your colleagues. Listen to your loved ones. Listen to your pastors, clerics, rabbis, and advisors. Listen to the world around you.
Studies show that physicians interrupt their patients on average 18 seconds into the office visit. Don’t be that guy. It takes more than a one sided conversation to develop a lasting, functional physician – patient relationship. Listen to the advice of these others, your counselors, because there is a world outside of medicine that we will soon be again free to explore, and it may be as new and frightening to you as medical school once was. You will need guidance.
7) I challenge you to learn. In everything you do at work, at home, and at play. Always continue to learn.
Be fascinated with the simple things in life and the details that create them. We have placed ourselves in a career which should challenge us for the rest of our lives. Take that challenge, and when you think you have run out of things to learn, as T.H White said in The Once and Future King, ask “why the world wags and what wags it.”
8) Finally, I challenge you to stop and smell the roses. Have fun. Make a fool of yourself, and get a life.
This is your life. It does not belong to the hospital. It does not belong to the student loan people. It does not belong to your parents. We are very fortunate to have our work so closely intertwined with our lives and the lives of those around us. This is also its curse. Do not let it consume you. Take up a hobby. Charting at home and reading medical journals is not a hobby. Learn an instrument. Take up running or biking or yard maintenance or tap dancing. Write the Great American Novel. I don’t care. What is important is that you do something that you don’t do at work. Enjoy it, learn something about it, and share it with others and if it’s not fun, for Pete’s sake, do something else. This is a trial and error life. Go make some mistakes and learn from them.
Not once, four years ago, did I imagine that I would be standing on the stage in Centennial Hall speaking to you. Most of my time was spent avoiding Dr. Leadem so that the mistake of my acceptance into medical school would not be discovered. I stand before you having shaken that fear, passed my classes (often by the skin of my teeth) and I look good in this gown, don’t I?
As we have traveled together the past four years, we have all absorbed something more than the volumes of medical factoids in our heads could ever amount to, and we all need to realize that despite how cool and lucky we are to be here right now, there is something greater than us. Through this journey we have reached a milestone and a rest stop begging for serious reflection and contemplation on where we stand and where we are headed. The poet Javan captures this moment when he stated “I often wonder if I am the man that I would be, if I were a boy dreaming of the man that I would be.” Let that sink in a little. Are we the people we dreamt we would be when we were children?
I don’t know, my friends, if we are all there yet, but I know today I am a lot closer to that dream. Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a round of applause to the fantastic graduating class of 2005. God bless and good luck.
Ladies and Gentlemen, parents, families, and friends, my fellow classmates, and the fine faculty and staff of the University of Arizona College of Medicine… I stand before you today with significantly less hair than I had four years ago. This has been the most exhausting, binding, challenging, inspiring, fantastic, and liberating experience of my entire life, and I thank all of you. To say that I am honored to have been asked to speak with everyone today is a gross understatement. When I look across this sea of faces and consider the talent, the intelligence, the manual dexterity, and of course the classic good looks of this group, I am both flattered and intimidated.
I pondered long and hard to come up with something novel and clever (the emphasis, of course being clever) I could bestow upon you that you didn’t already know, and failed miserably. My friends, these guys are really sharp.
So, now that you know everything, what can I say to you? We can reminisce a little about the first days of school. Go back with me, breathe it in. What were you doing when you received your acceptance letter? How did you pick your first study partners? What was the name of you cadaver in Gross Anatomy? And did I really fight to get a seat in the first couple rows of the lecture hall? We studied hard and played hard, some of us more than others in the latter category. That was a long time ago. I find it hard to believe we were really as naïve and fancy free as the freshmen I taught in physical exam this semester. Through all the novelty and excitement we traveled onward.
In addition to the good times, there have also been some tragedies and hurdles along the way…September 11, 2001. I sat on the floor of my bedroom watching the towers fall, not certain whether it was real, and praying for my brother who lived within a couple miles of the Pentagon. I remember that horrible day in the College of Nursing where we lost three colleagues, and the concerns of family who saw it play out on national TV while we were quarantined to the College of Medicine for our own safety. Many of us have lost loved ones, parents, grandparents, siblings, and others. Not to mention academic difficulties and the strains of interpersonal relationships contributed to by our direction in life. Through all the pain and stress we traveled onward.
What else? There have been changes in politics, we have gone to war, and Must See TV is no longer must see TV. We have birthed babies, found life-long friends and companions, and touched people’s lives in ways we never imagined. We began this journey only four years ago, but the world into which we will be journeying is a far different place than that first day in Rio Rico. Different. No better, no worse, despite what the politicians would have you believe, but definitely different.
Out of all these things, what will you take with you from these hallowed halls? What were your shining moments? Acing that Neuro exam? Late nights in the anatomy lab? Passing Step 1, or your first time in the surgery suite? Maybe it was that time that Goldman didn’t call you a “numb nut.” I have to admit, mine, and this brings a tear to my eye… was the production of 184 pies in the kitchen, dining room, and living room of my house in our Toys for Tots fundraiser. To watch all of you come together in the clutch for something that had no direct benefit associated with it, no credit, no financial gain, and pull off such a generous feat honestly gave me faith in mankind.
We have traveled a long way together, and it is with all of this in mind, that I impart a handful of challenges to you as we begin residency and leave the purely academic life.
1) I challenge you to work hard. This one should be easy. You wouldn’t be here with us tonight if you hadn’t figured this one out already.
I think I speak for most of us when I say we have never worked this hard for anything in your entire life. Don’t quit now. Just enjoy the challenges of a new level and learn as much as you can. And for that select few of you who didn’t work hard in medical school, I say if you can do more, then do more. Live up to your potential.
2) I challenge you to do no harm. This should be followed in your personal life as well.
The human body and spirit are remarkably strong. It can withstand your medical assaults and still get better, oftentimes without any regard to what you did. If you don’t know what you are doing, ask for help. We are still in training. If we are truly smart, we will always be in training.
3) I challenge you to take responsibility for what you do, who you are, and the position you will now occupy in the lives of others.
This is no small task. Believe it or not, your words and actions will begin to matter. We have assumed a tremendous burden to oversee the gates between sickness and health and life and death. Our patients will have confidence in us, even if we do not have it in ourselves. Shifting blame, side stepping issues, and ignoring the problem are no longer an option. How great of a world would this be if everyone realized the problems and simply did what they could do to fix them? Embrace the responsibility.
4) I challenge you to give back. Give back to your family. Give back to your friends. Give back to your community. Give back to those who least expect it.
No matter how smart and talented you are, or how smart and talented you THINK you are, you never would have made it here without the help of others. Your Mom, your Dad, the doctor you had as a kid, Jimmy from undergrad, your study partner, the classmate who first encouraged you to run for class rep, or the good people at the Coca Cola bottling company and Coffee X Change. These people carried you, whether you like it or not. Give them their due, and pass on the favor to others. Be a mentor. Be there for your loved ones. We are only as good as we do for others. This, challenge alone, I guarantee, will make you a better person.
5) I challenge you to be nice to the people who work with you and especially those who work for you.
Our practices will only be as strong as our support staff. Nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists, and countless others will know more than you. Not just at the start of your career, but always. When was the last time you drew blood, spent the night in a room with a patient or their family, or recited all the interactions of common blood pressure medicines? You will depend on these people every day. They may technically be lower on the food chain of traditional medicine, but their input is no less important than yours. And just remember, it is amazing how far a kind word and a box of donuts will carry you. Almost all is forgiven when Krispy Kreme is involved.
6) I challenge you to listen. Listen to you patients. Listen to your colleagues. Listen to your loved ones. Listen to your pastors, clerics, rabbis, and advisors. Listen to the world around you.
Studies show that physicians interrupt their patients on average 18 seconds into the office visit. Don’t be that guy. It takes more than a one sided conversation to develop a lasting, functional physician – patient relationship. Listen to the advice of these others, your counselors, because there is a world outside of medicine that we will soon be again free to explore, and it may be as new and frightening to you as medical school once was. You will need guidance.
7) I challenge you to learn. In everything you do at work, at home, and at play. Always continue to learn.
Be fascinated with the simple things in life and the details that create them. We have placed ourselves in a career which should challenge us for the rest of our lives. Take that challenge, and when you think you have run out of things to learn, as T.H White said in The Once and Future King, ask “why the world wags and what wags it.”
8) Finally, I challenge you to stop and smell the roses. Have fun. Make a fool of yourself, and get a life.
This is your life. It does not belong to the hospital. It does not belong to the student loan people. It does not belong to your parents. We are very fortunate to have our work so closely intertwined with our lives and the lives of those around us. This is also its curse. Do not let it consume you. Take up a hobby. Charting at home and reading medical journals is not a hobby. Learn an instrument. Take up running or biking or yard maintenance or tap dancing. Write the Great American Novel. I don’t care. What is important is that you do something that you don’t do at work. Enjoy it, learn something about it, and share it with others and if it’s not fun, for Pete’s sake, do something else. This is a trial and error life. Go make some mistakes and learn from them.
Not once, four years ago, did I imagine that I would be standing on the stage in Centennial Hall speaking to you. Most of my time was spent avoiding Dr. Leadem so that the mistake of my acceptance into medical school would not be discovered. I stand before you having shaken that fear, passed my classes (often by the skin of my teeth) and I look good in this gown, don’t I?
As we have traveled together the past four years, we have all absorbed something more than the volumes of medical factoids in our heads could ever amount to, and we all need to realize that despite how cool and lucky we are to be here right now, there is something greater than us. Through this journey we have reached a milestone and a rest stop begging for serious reflection and contemplation on where we stand and where we are headed. The poet Javan captures this moment when he stated “I often wonder if I am the man that I would be, if I were a boy dreaming of the man that I would be.” Let that sink in a little. Are we the people we dreamt we would be when we were children?
I don’t know, my friends, if we are all there yet, but I know today I am a lot closer to that dream. Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a round of applause to the fantastic graduating class of 2005. God bless and good luck.
posted by rob at 8:27 PM
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