HMS/HSDM Class Day: Farmer Calls on Grads to End the National and International Inequities in Care HSPH Class Day: World Bank Official Warns Against Global Health Threats DMS Symposium: Speakers Discuss Biotech's Path Toward New Therapies Class Symposium: The True Adventures of the Class of '78 Faculty Symposium: Medical Technologies: Both Glitter and Gold Alumni Symposium: Alums Evaluate the Smallpox Vaccination Campaign Class Day: Grads Try Real World On for Size 2003 Honors: Prizes and Awards   Most People with Major Depression Lack Treatment Disruption of Immune Function in Mice Leads to Glaucoma Heightened Activity in Brain Region Tied to Inhibited Temperament   Proceedings of the HMS Faculty Council Provost Addresses HST Graduates   Medical Student Masters Academic Ladder   Front Page

CLASS DAY Grads Try Real World On for Size Reminiscing on the past four or more years and mixing humor with the seriousness of their newfound responsibility to individual and public health, the three student speakers at the June 5 Class Day ceremony urged the new physicians, dentists, and researchers to strike a balance between caring for others and caring for themselves. At the Class Day ceremony, medical student speaker Rahul Sakhuja prepares classmates for the world that awaits them. "If you thought it was hard getting up for nutrition class, try waking up to life," Sakhuja said. "The concerns are much greater: global HIV, medical error, and access to health insurance." (Photo by Liza Green, HMS Media Services) "We've studied together, we've laughed together, and we've done my great favorite--set denture teeth together," recalled HSDM graduate Michael Gentile. "I think that we have a responsibility as health care providers, and in particular, those coming from this institution, to in some way give back to humanity, whether it be in education, community service, research, or patient care," he said. "We should all strive to make the lives of people around us better." To which he added this proviso, "If you choose to dedicate your life to patient care, remember that compassion isn't optional." Harking back to the words of this country's founding fathers, Gentile said that of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the responsibility for the latter rests with each individual. "It's up to us to find and pursue what makes us happy," he told the audience. "I've always believed that the key to life is to find happiness. Whether it's patient care or research, a family, or a Ferrari, if you find what makes you happy, you're going to enjoy life." We Have Arrived The second speaker, HMS graduate Rahul Sakhuja, was impressed by the number of people at the Class Day ceremony. "I must admit, when I heard that families would be coming from many different places just to hear me speak, I was flattered," Sakhuja said, to much laughter and applause. "In fact, as you might know, the former president of Mexico is speaking right now at Harvard Yard. Yet you all chose to hear me. Thank you very much." Sakhuja went on to tell about a summer a few years ago that he spent in Guatemala. He met a woman named Maria whose husband left her while she was pregnant and who subsequently tested positive for HIV, as did her newborn son. As a result, she became a community activist, working with a group of women to bring treatment to the community. Sakhuja used this example to illustrate the real-world problems that the new graduates face and to describe medical school as a kind of "snooze button on life." "Now, our nine minutes are up. The snooze is over, people. For those of you going into ophthalmology or dermatology or radiology, you have another nine minutes. For the rest of us, we're waking up," he told his classmates. "If you thought it was hard getting up for nutrition class, try waking up to life. The concerns are much greater: global HIV, medical error, access to health insurance. And, yes, I am nervous." "So while the problems and responsibilities that we face are much greater than those in our Patient-Doctor classes, the group we are about to join--doctors and dentists and scientists alike--is much bigger and much more powerful," Sakhuja said. Managing Success Ending on a more philosophical note, the final student speaker, Medical School graduate Warren Kinghorn, challenged his fellow degree recipients not to become imprisoned by "status and prestige and success." He pressed them not to become so caught up in their professional lives that their personal lives suffer, citing the examples of physician burnout, suicide, and failed marriage. "Do our patients really benefit when we sacrifice all else for them?" Kinghorn asked. "We have the freedom at Harvard to achieve success, but do we have the freedom not to? Can we redefine or reject our culture's definition of success?" In June, HMS awarded 162 MDs to 95 men and 67 women. Of the graduates, 19.7 percent are underrepresented minorities, and 18.5 percent earned or are candidates for an additional degree; 29 degrees were awarded through the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. The 36-member HSDM Class of 2003 is composed of 18 women and 18 men who received the DMD. The Dental School also awarded 15 Master of Medical Science degrees to seven men and eight women and three Doctor of Medical Science degrees to three men. --Michael Higgins