The New York Times explores the impact of the pandemic on New York City medical students who graduated early amid the COVID-19 crisis in Spring 2020. Learn more.

 

With in-person teaching in hospital and clinic settings suspended as the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, Weill Cornell Medical College swiftly designed innovative telehealth courses that enabled medical students to take part in remote patient care while also positioning them for post-pandemic careers with expanded digital healthcare options. Learn more.

 

On Monday, May 10, 2021—commencement day at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell—98 medical students finally began a lifelong dream, officially becoming doctors. The ceremony took place at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex at Hofstra University. Learn more.

 

Even as a newly minted physician-scientist, Dr. Hanan Baker is already a trailblazer. The Fresno, Calif., native is the youngest graduate in the history of the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. Program, having enrolled at age 19. While the COVID-19 pandemic upended the past year, Dr. Baker, now 25, said she feels optimistic about entering medicine at this moment. As an observant Muslim whose mother is from Mexico and father is from Iraq, Dr. Baker is passionate about increasing diversity in medicine and eager to help effect positive change during what she believes is a pivotal time for society. Learn more.

 

Downstate commencement ceremonies have always been highly anticipated occasions for our students, their families, faculty, and all of us at Downstate. This year proved to be no exception after more than a year of virtual learning and social distancing, our graduates experienced a much-deserved, in-person commemoration fitting of their accomplishments. Learn more.

 

A year of a worldwide pandemic tests everyone, yet the rigors of completing the final year of medical school in such an environment has specific challenges such as altering one’s clinical training around the pandemic, additional remote learning, and ultimately, entering medicine at an unprecedented time in history. Fittingly, 150 fourth-year students of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University received their MD degrees at its 47th Convocation on May 20 – the largest class ever. Learn more.

 

On Wednesday, May 19, NYU Grossman School of Medicine held a virtual graduation ceremony celebrating the accomplishments and success of 121 new physicians. H. Leon Pachter, MD, the George David Stewart Professor of Surgery and chair emeritus of the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone Health, provided the keynote address. Learn more.

 

Albert Einstein College of Medicine celebrated its 63rd commencement on Thursday, May 27, 2021, with a joint on-campus and virtual ceremony honoring its graduating medical and graduate students. David Kessler, M.D., J.D., chief science officer for the COVID-19 Response task force of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, delivered the commencement address. Learn more.

 

The CUNY School of Medicine 2021 Commencement Ceremony was held on Thursday, May 27th at 11:00am. This virtual event was an opportunity for CUNY Med faculty, staff, and families to gather safely to celebrate our graduates. The CUNY Med faculty and staff continue to send our sincere congratulations to the class of 2021. Learn more.

 

“I will be mindful always of my great responsibility to preserve the health and the life of my patients, to retain their confidence and respect both as a physician and a friend…” Those are the words that more than 400 graduates from the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s (NYITCOM) Class of 2021 affirmed while pledging the osteopathic oath at this year’s hooding ceremonies. Learn more.

 

A member of the class of 2021, Natalie has exemplified that quote throughout her eight years as an M.D./Ph.D. student at Einstein. On one hectic afternoon typical of her schedule, she squeezed in lunch at the Einstein Café after researching infectious diseases in Dr. Betsy Herold’s lab and before attending a screening and panel discussion of the documentary I Am Not Your Negro, hosted by the Einstein chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). Learn more.

 

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion hosted an insightful seminar on May 6, “Leveraging Diversity in Academic Medicine,” in partnership with Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians (BNGAP). The virtual seminar was aimed at students who are underrepresented in medicine to learn how to get involved in academia while also learning how to overcome any challenges in the field. Learn more.

 

Jamal B. Williams is on his way to completing his doctorate in neuroscience in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. He is also on his way to a postdoctoral position, thanks to an award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health. Learn more.

 

Ms. Lily Lee, MD-MPH Candidate, was recently awarded the Local 2021 Excellence in Public Health Award, and the National 2021 Excellence in Public Health Award by the U.S. Public Health Service Physician Professional Advisory Committee. The award was announced at the 17th Annual Awards Ceremony for the School of Public Health. Learn more.

 

Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, MD, a nationally recognized asthma researcher and rising leader in pediatric pulmonary medicine, has been named director of pediatric pulmonology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Learn more.

 

New York Medical College has named Tracey A. Milligan, M.D., as chair of the Department of Neurology. In addition, she will serve as director of neurology at Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Milligan, an expert in epilepsy treatment, joins NYMC from serving as associate professor at Harvard Medical School and distinguished clinician and vice chair for education in the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Learn more.

 

The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), a lead health policy and advocacy organization, recently named Jennifer H. Mieres, MD, FACC, MASNC, FAHA, professor of cardiology and associate dean of Faculty Affairs at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, to its board of trustees. The organization, which is over 150 years old, is dedicated to tackling the barriers that prevent every individual from living a healthy life. Learn more.

 

Christine Hsu Rohde, MD, a highly skilled clinician, researcher, and teacher of plastic and reconstructive surgery, has been named chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Learn more.

 

Rachel Levine, MD, a longtime leader in public health, was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services in March 2021—making history as the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Dr. Levine, who began her medical career at Mount Sinai, recently took part in an interview with Mount Sinai Today about her years of training and the road ahead. Learn more.

 

During the week leading up to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s 52nd Annual Commencement on Friday, May 14, medical student Rachel Wilkinson held a virtual “fireside chat” with historian and educator Lonnie G. Bunch, III, PhD, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. At Icahn Mount Sinai’s Commencement, Ms. Wilkinson received her medical degree, and Dr. Bunch—Founding Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016—was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. Learn more.

 

Payal Aggarwal, DO, TouroCOM-NY graduate, former board member on AACOM’s Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents and current resident physician, has been working to coordinate volunteers to help with the COVID-19 pandemic response in India. Learn more.

 

They developed a sickle cell anemia test for newborn babies, found a way to make blood transfusions safer, and discovered that the body can, indeed, attack itself. They brought new scientific understanding to Buffalo, even when their ideas were initially ridiculed and later accepted as essential to human health. They fought and curbed devastating outbreaks in the city from typhoid, cholera and the 1918 influenza pandemic; today, they are fighting COVID-19. Learn more.

 

Khushba Ahmed, a graduating senior at Harlem’s A. Philip Randolph High School, has won the inaugural MedAchieve Empowerment Scholarship from the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine-Harlem’s STEM afterschool program MedAchieve. Ahmed, who came to the United States at age seven from Bangladesh, completed the two-year “mini medical school” program during the pandemic by attending the labs and lectures virtually. Learn more.