Greetings,

As the trees on 72 East Concord Street bloom and the weather gets warmer, we welcome 166 new medical school alumni to our family. The class of 2021 celebrated completion of medical school in the setting of a pandemic with a virtual graduation ceremony. Resilience is a key strength for these graduates and a theme shared by many at graduation. Peer chosen medical student convocation speaker, Carlo Pasco, who will be a pediatric resident at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, reflected on his path to medical school and the importance of understanding that failure is a “part of the learning process”. The graduating class selected Sadiqa Kendi, MD, FAAP, CPST, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Division Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Boston University and Boston Medical Center as their commencement speaker. Dr. Kendi encouraged graduates to “lean in, and make the choice to grow….it’s okay to misstep. And you will – that’s part of the next step of your training. But don’t stop there. Push yourself to learn from it. Push yourself to be better because of it.”  

BUSM graduates are beginning their careers with a commitment to improve health equity. Many of us were drawn to BUSM because of the diverse population served and the culture of social justice and advocacy. This month, several alumni reflect back on their experiences at BUSM and share how they learned about health within the larger social context around them. Our Alumni Spotlight, Sarita Mohanty, MD, (MED'98), recounts, “BUSM afforded me the opportunity to serve a diverse population of patients, many of whom were low-income. Right from the start of my first year of medical school, I began to witness how 'social determinants of health' impact the total health of a patient.” Another alumna and American Heart Association Physician of the Year, Stacey Rosen, MD, (MED’85), is raising awareness about disparities in women’s health care. She says, “I'm passionate about women's heart health, and my whole career has been focused on eliminating those disparities.” BU School of Public Health 2021 Convocation speaker, Cheryl Scott MD, MPH (MED’82) spoke about her career as a medical officer in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps assigned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and what she learned “about equity, humanity and justice. She shared that “regardless of what you choose to do within public health, you will come to find that your own humanity is what connects you to the communities you serve”. These alumnae demonstrate the strengths of BUSM and the impact of being involved in caring for diverse populations, from day one, in medical school.

Future doctors and other health professionals also rely on hospitals to lend a hand in their growing careers. St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center has been added as a new teaching hospital for Boston University and will “bring more medical training and research opportunities for BU students and faculty.” The agreement will not impact the School of Medicine’s relationship with Boston Medical Center, its primary teaching affiliate. In addition to medical students, there will be new clinical rotations for physician assistant and mental health and genetic counseling students.

The Alumni Association’s goal is to create a unified alumni body and as Massachusetts and Boston COVID regulations ease, we look forward to connecting you with fellow alumni and current students as soon as possible. We are preparing to welcome M1’s in a few months for the White Coat Ceremony and hope to have alumni back to campus for reunions in the fall. In the meantime, if you have any news you would like to share please submit it to class notes. These will be available to all BUSM alumni in this Summer’s BU Medicine magazine.

We commend our recent graduates for finding strength during these uncertain times and are grateful for the BUSM family of alumni, students, faculty and staff who believe in, advocate for and work toward health equity and creating a more inclusive and just world.

Wishing you the best,

IN MEMORIAM

January 14, 1968 - April 27, 2021

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