The excitement was palpable in the University of Michigan’s historic Hill Auditorium this afternoon, as 164 beaming medical students walked across stage and into their futures, as both health care leaders and physicians. 

The 169^th graduating class of the U-M Medical School received their diplomas in a commencement ceremony highlighted by an address from Abdul El-Sayed, M.D, Ph.D, former leader of the City of Detroit’s health department and 2018 gubernatorial primary candidate in Michigan.

El-Sayed was selected by the students as their commencement speaker because of his unique approach to policy and medical initiatives designed to benefit the greater good. Both were emphasized by this graduating class throughout their time on campus, as they demonstrated their leadership skills and yearned to make a difference in health and healthcare over the last several years.

Overall, 66 percent of today’s graduating class completed a Path of Excellence to gain specialized experience and training in subject areas like medical humanities, health policy, scientific discovery and patient safety. These paths were created by medical school leadership to prepare students to become agents of change throughout their health care careers.  

Seventy-five students completed Capstone for IMPACT projects, designed to provide students with innovative opportunities to take on society’s biggest challenges in health, health care and health system delivery while in medical school. These important projects included health-related podcasts, student-led national conferences, new electives for future medical students, video series, and submissions for journal publications and conferences. They can be viewed here.

An impressive 97 percent of this year’s graduating class matched to one of their chosen residency programs on Match Day, with 26 students graduating with both a medical degree from U-M and an advanced degree in another field from graduate programs at U-M, Cambridge University, Harvard and elsewhere. These degrees include Ph.D.s as part of U-M’s prestigious Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), and master’s degrees in public health, clinical research or business. Five students have also completed both a medical degree and a residency program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

“Every year, I am incredibly proud of our graduating students,” said Rajesh S. Mangrulkar, M.D., Marguerite S. Roll Professor of Medical Education and Associate Dean for Medical Student Education. “However, this class is truly memorable. They brought their best to the University of Michigan and really embraced the mission to try and improve the health of society in so many different ways. Undeniably, each of them made an impact while they were educated here, and it is all of our honor to celebrate with them today.”

Who is the Class of 2019?

The 164 graduates range in age from 25 to 40, and hail from 25 different states.

They came to U-M from 66 undergraduate schools, including 11 in Michigan. They will now spread out over the country for their residency training in 26 different states, with 28% staying in the state of Michigan.

Forty-five percent of U-M’s graduates will train in a field that could lead to a primary care career as an internist, pediatrician, family practitioner, obstetrician/gynecologist or dual specialist in internal medicine and pediatrics.

The students staying at U-M for their residency programs, or going elsewhere for the next phase of their training, were selected from among thousands of applicants nationwide.

At U-M, nearly 1,200 doctors-in-training in 106 residency and fellowship programs currently train at the Michigan Medicine hospitals and clinics. Those programs are highly regarded by doctors around the country, and by the doctors who completed them, according to results compiled by Doximity.

If you missed the ceremony, click here to watch video of the event: http://michmed.org/Q2o29.

More information about all degree programs at the U-M Medical School: http://medicine.umich.edu/medschool/education.