School of Medicine graduates 93 students

The UC Davis School of Medicine conferred Doctor of Medicine degrees to 93 students Friday in a festive ceremony at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis.

The school’s 48th commencement opened with students in blue robes and colorful stoles marching onto the stage. The City of Sacramento Pipe Band played bagpipes and drums as friends and family cheered loudly. The event came just two months after Match Day, when the students learned where they would continue their training.

(Watch the commencement video here).

“You guys should feel really, really, really good,” said UC Davis Health Chief Executive Officer David Lubarsky, “It’s a long road to get here.”

Lubarsky advised graduates to remain curious as they enter residency programs. He recalled his experience as a young resident thinking he should know everything as a doctor but then realizing how little he knew. “You have to remember to ask questions,” he said. “The ability to ask questions is the greatest sign of intelligence.”

The School of Medicine’s Interim Dean Lars Berglund told graduates, “Your compassion and your deeply held values will guide you to become future leaders in the health professions.”

Student speaker Nika Carrillo’s speech, “Normalizing Failure,” described her own academic journey and how she overcame poor study habits. She also praised the diversity of the Class of 2019.

She quoted from the school’s mission statement – to provide excellent learner-centered education to a diverse body of medical students – then reminded fellow graduates how they all “set a record for the highest percentage of females, at more than 60 percent.”

The class, she said, consisted of Sacramento Kings fans, Golden State Warriors fans, and “one poor Houston Rockets fan.” Students on stage, she said, came from varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds. “Some are married, some have children, some are still on Tinder,” she joked.

Classmates pose for pictures before the ceremony

The keynote speaker was Jorge Garcia, a clinical professor of internal medicine who is well-known as a compassionate leader within the Office of Student and Resident Diversity. He is a popular resource for students who need encouraging words when their academic or personal lives hit roadblocks and need a boost.

Garcia teared up while being introduced by co-presidents Angelique Mahavongtrakul Kim and Sarah Elaine Johnson, and it didn’t take long to recognize his passion for connecting with students and patients.

A self-proclaimed ugly duckling and mediocre student, Garcia urged students to discover the “joy of medicine,” regardless of the circumstances.

He spoke poignantly about his own experience in medical training, in the days when work-life balance was non-existent, describing three occasions when he wanted to quit.

On the first occasion, he was exhausted, disillusioned and becoming hopeless – ready to give up his dreams. As he walked through a dark hospital corridor, he felt an unexpected tap on his shoulder. It was a survivor of the Cambodian killing fields who spoke little English but relayed a clear message: “You are my doctor and I’m so very happy to see you. You matter a lot to me and you make a difference in my life, and I’m so thankful for you.”

On the second occasion, a former patient found Garcia to say “thank you” for being one of many physicians who treated him after being found unresponsive in bushes and covered in dirt.

On the third occasion, during the last year of residency, the daughter of a dying man Garcia cared for drove many miles after the funeral to personally thank him. The daughter gave Garcia a handwritten note, a box of chocolates, and an embrace. She said, “There aren’t many doctors like you, Dr. Garcia.”

Unbeknownst to them, the three people – “angels,” he calls them – motivated Garcia to complete residency. “My medical career was saved by the surprising and perfectly timed visits of strangers.”

Garcia told the graduating students that “we will all lead imperfect lives,” but “we cannot always know the many ways our lives touch others, particularly during bad seasons.”