For the first time since 2019, the UAB Heersink School of Medicine hosted an in-person Commencement with a full audience of family and friends, who gathered to celebrate the 189 members of the Class of 2022.
Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., FACS, senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, CEO of the UAB Health System, and CEO of the UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance, kicked off the ceremony by welcoming the students and assembled guests. He noted that nearly 40 percent of the class will stay in Alabama for their residencies, with the other 60 percent heading to institutions across the country “representing UAB and Alabama with their talents and excellence.”
Vickers then introduced a special guest, Marnix E. Heersink, M.D., whose $95 million gift to name the Heersink School of Medicine is fueling the school’s next era of excellence. “When the UAB family gave my family the opportunity to provide a significant investment in the School of Medicine, it was one of the greatest moments of our lives,” Heersink said. “We know that we can support the school with its mission and all of the wonderful things it’s doing, as well as the students … I really would like to thank each and every one of you for allowing my wife Mary and I and our entire family to become part of the UAB family.”
Ally Heng, the fourth-year class president, shared remarks that she admitted she had prepared at the last minute. “In all sincerity, I found it very difficult to put into words how proud I am to have gone through this journey with you over the past four years, a journey with people I have grown to respect and deeply admire,” she said.
Vickers then announced that Erin Yarbrough, associate vice president of Clinical Operations for UAB Medicine, is the 2022 recipient of the Dr. Will Ferniany Academic Medicine Leadership Award, which was created upon the retirement of Will Ferniany, Ph.D., as CEO of the UAB Health System in 2021. The award recognizes an administrative executive each year within UAB Medicine, the UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance, or the UAB Health System who has provided significant support to the academic mission of UAB Medicine and whose commitment to that mission has been an inspiration to others. Yarbrough will be honored with a reception on May 24 at 4 p.m. in the Wallace Tumor Institute Lobby.
Alison Whelan, M.D., chief academic officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), presented the Commencement address. Whelan leads the AAMC’s initiatives to transform medical education and workforce preparation across the full continuum of medical education. Prior to joining the AAMC, she was a professor of medicine and pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Whelan shared her insights with students about the evolving health care landscape in which they will be practicing. “Between the time that you entered medical school and now, the day of your graduation, not only have you been transformed, but the entire world has been transformed.”
She continued, “For you, the summer of 2022 is the start of the next exciting phase of your medical training. For the world, the summer of 2022 is the start of a new, important phase as well, a rebalancing as we move from pandemic to endemic and work to reflect, rebuild, and retool, from the lessons learned in the pandemic to adapt to a new world and be ready for the next pandemic or health crisis.”
Craig J. Hoesley, M.D., senior associate dean for Medical Education, presented the schoolwide awards. Ana-Preda Naumescu received the Hugh J. Dempsey Award, which is given to the student with the highest overall academic achievement over the four-year course of medical school.
John Hunsicker, a 2022 graduate, and Catherine Ikard, M.D., an assistant professor of Neurology on the Tuscaloosa Regional Campus, were presented with the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Awards. Sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, these honors are given each year to a graduating student and faculty member in recognition of their value of humanism in the delivery of care to patients and their families.
Renita Daniels received the Medical Alumni Association Leadership and Community Service Award, presented by Rebecca Byrd, M.D.
The ceremony concluded with the hooding of the graduates and a group recitation of the Hippocratic Oath. A Military Promotion Ceremony was held earlier Saturday morning to honor and celebrate graduates who will enter military training programs.
In addition to the schoolwide Commencement ceremony, each of the four campuses—Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, and Huntsville—hosted an award ceremony to celebrate campus-specific honors. See all the award winners in the 2022 Commencement program online.
Watch a recording of the Commencement livestream on the Heersink School of Medicine website.