The DNA upon which Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine is built — humanism — was recently celebrated at one of the school’s annual signature events.

The 2025 Faircloth Evening of Medical Humanism was held March 20.

Nineteen OUWB medical students and six residents from Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital were inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS).

Sarah George, M4 student, and Ty Kwaiser, M.D., assistant professor and course director, Obstetrics and Gynecology, received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. Recipients of this award are a graduating medical student and a faculty member who are role models and mentors for humanism in care of their patients. With this honor, they are inducted into the GHHS.

Five people from the Oakland University School of Education and Human Service’s (SEHS) Department of Counseling received Chi Sigma Iota, Theta Chapter awards.

Keynote speaker for the event was Richard Gunderman, M.D., Ph.D., Chancellor’s Professor of Radiology, Pediatrics, Medical Education, Philosophy, Liberal Arts, Philanthropy, and Medical Humanities at Indiana University.

Jason Wasserman, Ph.D., Dean’s Distinguished Professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies, said it’s important to have events such as Faircloth, which are centered on humanism in medicine.

“OUWB was founded to be a beacon of humanism in medicine,” he said. “As we move forward…I think Oakland and OUWB both are going to have to work hard to retain those value commitments.”

Dan Carey, M.D., president, Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, said it was important for him to attend the event. Other dignitaries in attendance included Oakland University President Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, M.D., and Jon Margerum-Leys, Ph.D., dean, SEHS.

“I feel it’s extremely important to support the enrichment of what I consider to be some of the unique features of OUWB,” said Carey. “The school has a humanities focus, and I need to support that as a physician, an OUWB faculty member, and someone who cares about our community.”

Faircloth’s origin story

The event’s namesake is Patrick Faircloth, Ph.D., an Oakland University alumnus, who created an endowment for OUWB and SEHS to ensure that students study communications and interpersonal skills as part of their training to be compassionate physicians. (Faircloth was among the more than 100 who attended in person and online.)

Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, OUWB, welcomed everyone and explained that Faircloth established the endowment following the experiences he had with medicine toward the end of his father’s life. Specifically, that medical experts would benefit greatly from learning to strengthen their communication and interpersonal skills.

“This evening is dedicated to that realization that occurred at about the time our medical school was deemed newly formed,” he said. “To this day, we are very grateful for our partnership (with SEHS) that fosters a process of compassionate, responsive interaction with patients.”

He added that it’s fitting “that we recognize that as the ongoing success of our collaboration.”

GHHS

Wesam Almasri, M3, said he was “very proud” to be among the 2025 inductees.
	Wesam Almasri, M3, said he was “very proud” to be among the 2025 inductees.

GHHS is a community of medical students, resident physicians, and faculty who practice compassionate patient care and who have been recognized as role models, mentors, and leaders in medicine. Inductees from OUWB often go on to land residencies at programs affiliated with the likes of Johns Hopkins University, Brown University, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and more.

Inductees are nominated by their peers. For this year, members of OUWB’s Class of 2026 were asked to nominate those they felt demonstrated values of humanism in health care with a strong focus on compassion, empathy, teamwork, accountability, inclusivity, and commitment towards service.

Of those nominated, 30% were asked to submit a personal statement on what humanism means to them along with a letter of recommendation from a clinical faculty member who could speak to each nominee’s clinical skills and commitment to community.

Finally, of those who submitted the requisite materials, half — or 19 — were chosen for induction by the OUWB GHHS executive board.

Chance Stevenson, M4 and 2024 GHHS inductee, explained the process to the Faircloth attendees and commended the freshly minted members of the honor society.

“It is quite an achievement, and your hard work does not go unnoticed,” he said.

“I commend you all for doing so many great things to help…your community and those sitting around you striving to be great physicians, but more importantly, great human beings.”

Wesam Almasri, M3, said he was “very proud” to be among the 2025 inductees.

“When I first started medicine, it was because of the humanistic aspects and the potential to make an impact on my community,” he said.

Almasri said OUWB has provided him plenty of opportunities to do exactly what he set out to do.

“OUWB has given me a platform to thrive,” he said. “I’m gaining clinical abilities and able to retain my passion for reaching out to the community. It’s meant a lot.”

Claire Kopachik, M3, also was inducted into GHHS. She was especially grateful to her classmates and fellow inductees.

“It’s a wonderful group,” she said. “I feel really grateful to be in medical school with this group of students and also lucky enough to work with some of them closely in community service and student organizations.”

Among the families and friends in attendance was Annette Kopachik, M.D., Claire’s mother. She said the whole event had her feeling proud and optimistic.

“When I look at the people in (Claire’s) age group and her friends, I feel like the world is going to be OK,” she said. “The people who are getting this award are such good people and they give of themselves…it’s nice to see the values in action.”

Keynote addresses loneliness

Gunderman’s keynote maintained the event theme of humanism by focusing on loneliness. He provided a brief general overview on the topic that included definitions and current statistics.

Most of his presentation, however, centered on the idea that people are spending less and less time contemplating what it means to be human. That, in turn, leads to less connection to others.  

Gunderman said he wanted people to understand that if they fail to learn the lessons of loneliness, “we do so at our own great cost.”

He called being asked to deliver the keynote “a great honor.”

“I think humanism in medicine sometimes doesn’t get the attention it deserves,” he said. “To see these people being recognized for their important contributions really means a lot. It’s a great honor to be here.”

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at adietderich@oakland.edu.

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

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