OUWB Commencement
May 12, 2023
PESCOVITZ: Congratulations graduates…on your graduation day, and welcome to your new and much-deserved title.
What does it mean to be called “doctor?”
It’s so much more than a title before your name…
We have a tight agenda, but I want to take a few minutes to offer some observations about what it means to be a “doctor,” and some advice that I would have wanted to hear when I graduated from medical school many, many ago.
< P A U S E >
Approach each day with passion and purpose.
Never underestimate yourself…..
…but never overestimate yourself either.
Be curious, respectful and humble.
You don’t know what you don’t know…
…until that day arrives.
Medicine is as much an art as it is a science.
The practice takes practice and style.
You enter the medical profession on the shoulders of those who came before you.
Honor the tradition.
Seek mentors…
…and when your time comes…
…be a mentor.
With caring, comes pleasure and pain.
But never stop caring…
It’s the foundation of your humanity.
You will suffer heartache…and triumph.
When experiencing one, keep the other in mind.
Remind yourself to laugh.
Mostly, at yourself.
Stand on principle.
And you’ll never be disappointed.
Success is a team sport.
Your advancement is the result of the people around
you …those who support you are an essential part of
what you have accomplished.
Enjoy the ride of life.
The ups.
The downs.
The in-betweens.
When you give … give a lot!
You will receive much in return.
The universe will notice.
Of all these aphorisms, perhaps the most important one is this one: Believe in yourself.
And believe in the practice of medicine.
It is the most noble of professions.
HONORARY DEGREE
We have with us today, someone who upholds the highest standards of medicine, our honorary degree recipient, Dr. Lainie Ross.
I invite Dr. Lainie Ross to rise and step forward.
(ROSS steps forward and stands to the RIGHT of PESCOVITZ.)
From time to time an institution of higher education
pauses in its affairs to take special recognition of
individuals who have given unusual measure toward the betterment of humankind’s intellectual, cultural,
aesthetic, social and civic fabric and who, in doing so,
have touched the life of the institution in significant ways.
Just as the conferral of the doctoral degree is a
university’s recognition of the highest academic
achievement, so also is the conferral of the doctorate, honoris causa, a university’s recognition of truly distinguished achievement beyond the classroom and campus.
Dr. Ross joined the University of Rochester in January as professor and inaugural Chair of the Department of Health Humanities and Bioethics with secondary appointments in the Departments of Pediatrics and Philosophy.
Her main focus has been an analytical examination of moral relationships and their implications for health care decision-making and health care policies.
She has written or co-written five books and has published more than 200 articles in the peer-reviewed literature.
She is the 2009 recipient of the Patricia Price Brown Prize in Biomedical Ethics from the Oklahoma Health Sciences University….
….a 2014 recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and…
…the 2015 recipient of the William G. Bartholomew Award in Ethical Excellence from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Ross has made major contributions in medical ethics and health policy. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated how moral convictions shape the practice of medicine.
It is, therefore, with great honor and special privilege that Oakland University awards to you, LANIE ROSS, the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities.
I now request DEAN MEWA to come forward to assist with the investiture.