Graduates lauded for “magnificent achievement”

Speaker urges new M.D.s to retain “watchful heart”

May 23, 2006

Shriti Patel, left, and Anju Sidhu, right, phone a friend to share their excitement just before they officially become medical doctors at the EVMS commencement ceremony.

NORFOLK—When Brad Griffeth was four years old, he was invited to a mother-child banquet where kids dressed as what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most came as police officers or firefighters. Griffeth donned a white coat and went as a physician.

“He’s always wanted to be a doctor,” explained his mother, Sharon McLeish, on the day Griffeth fulfilled that childhood fantasy.

Griffeth was among 218 graduates of the EVMS Class of 2006 who strode up the stage at Norfolk’s Chrysler Hall May 20 to receive their degrees. Of those, 103 returned to their seats as M.D.s.

The other 115 graduated with Ph.D.s and master's degrees in other health professions. Among them was Diana Tollaksen, a 32-year-old mother of two who forged ahead to finish her master's in the Physician Assistant program after surgery, and during chemotherapy, for thyroid cancer.

“We’ve attended each other’s weddings, gone to each other’s birthdays and attended numerous baby showers. We’ve worked so very hard, we owe it to ourselves to be the best doctors we can possibly be.” Aditi Agarwal President of the M.D. Class of 2006

Tollaksen’s cancer was discovered by her program director, Tom Parish, DHSc, PA-C. “We were just talking and it just happened that the way she turned, the lump cast a little shadow and I asked about it,” Parish recalled.

Tollaksen got treatment, chemotherapy, and came back to the program to finish.

“She’s a pretty amazing individual,” Parish said. “She’s one of those students who's been able to juggle being a parent and a student at the same time, and then to have a serious health problem and still get through it is pretty amazing.”

Aditi Agarwal, president of the 2006 M.D. class, talked about how the intense experience of medical school resulted in friendships that will last a lifetime.

“We’ve attended each other’s weddings, gone to each other’s birthdays and attended numerous baby showers,” she said. “We’ve worked so very hard, we owe it to ourselves to be the best doctors we can possibly be.”

John Stone, M.D., a cardiologist and emeritus professor at Emory University School of Medicine, gave the keynote, speaking not only as a doctor but as a renowned poet.

Co-editor of the book “On Doctoring” given to EVMS students during their White Coat Ceremony, Stone spoke of the need for doctors to retain a “watchful heart” as they begin treating patients.

Doctors must have “a noticing eye, an eye that will see what others have missed.” They also need a nose for clues like Sherlock Holmes and a “wise touch,” that can both diagnose and comfort, Stone said.

Comparing doctors to poets and writers, Stone said physicians must be ready to be surprised, to look beyond the obvious. “The first duty,” he said, “is to be astonished.”

Before conferring degrees, President Harry Lester said EVMS students have unique qualities that will help them shape changes taking place in medical care today.

“You have learned that no system can succeed that leaves patients behind,” Lester said.

Eight of the graduates attended EVMS on military reserve scholarship programs, and obtained their commissions aboard the battleship USS Wisconsin the day before. For Brooke Harrison, the commissioning ceremony was especially emotional. The officer who granted the commission was her father, Capt. Kenneth Harrison, a Navy dentist.

“I know that he’s proud that I’ve decided to follow in his footsteps,” Harrison said.

Steven Boe and his wife, Dana Boe, who both attended EVMS on Navy scholarships, got their degrees at the same ceremony. For Steven Boe, though, one of the most astonishing moments of the graduation came when he introduced his mother, Betty, who had flown in from Sioux City, Iowa, to Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Michael Solhaug, M.D.

Boe’s mother, who thought Solhaug looked familiar, recognized the name. She told Solhaug that decades ago, when she lived in Minneapolis, Minn., she once worked for a Sam Solhaug, an obstetrician and gynecologist – Michael Solhaug’s father. “Doc Sam” died in 1996.

“He was a very good doctor,” Betty Boe recalled. “Nice to all his patients.”

For some students, the year before graduation seemed endless. Ron Talento, who came to EVMS after running several pizza parlors, spent those last months working to finish two degrees, an M.D. and a master's in public health. Back in March 2005, Tolento set his PDA to count down the 453 days to graduation.

“Now, it’s passed,” Tolento said after getting his diplomas. “It’s kind of surreal.”

The 2,400-seat Chrysler Hall was packed with uncles, aunts, cousins, in-laws and extended families from as far away as Oregon, most planning post-graduation banquets and parties. As students trooped up to get their degrees, parents swapped stories about watching their precocious children grow up.

Raymond Barbour, a retired Army helicopter pilot, remembered how his daughter, Raymonda, carried on sophisticated conversations with adults when she was a toddler. Barbour said he figured his daughter would end up being a lawyer or doctor.

“I knew she was going to be something important,” added her mother, Haley. “People just flocked to her.”

While EVMS Rector Vincent Napolitano congratulated the students for their “magnificent achievement,” he also recognized the contributions of those in the audience.

“To the husbands and wives, children, parents, grandparents, family and friends of our graduates, I offer my admiration and best wishes,” Napolitano said. “Through your constant encouragement and support, you share in your loved one’s accomplishment.”

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