Speeches

Statements by Senior

Embassy Officials

TAU Sackler School of Medicine New York State/American Program

Commencement Address

Monday, May 21, 2007 at 7 pm

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2007, today you are doctors.  You have studied harder than you ever imagined and learned more than you ever thought possible.  You have met and exceeded the high expectations of your professors and advisors, and you have mastered the rigorous curriculum that required study day and night.   This ceremony marks your graduation not just into a new profession, but into a new identity.

During the last four years, you may barely have had time to go for a run or have a coffee with your friends, let alone reflect on the meaning of being a doctor.  And so today, as you sit among friends and family, it seems appropriate to reflect on the beginning – and of course commencement means beginning - that awaits you when you leave this hall today, and on the special character of the profession you have chosen.  

Why is it that doctors hold such an esteemed position in our society?  Of course, they are known for their intelligence and admired for their years of study, but I believe the esteem we give doctors is largely connected to the oath you take today.  This oath is a commitment you undertake freely to make the care of your patients your first priority.  Today, you devote your professional lives to others, and in particular to healing others.  The life of a doctor is an intense life. You will be witnesses and servants to individual human survival.  To live as a doctor is to live so that your life is bound up in others.  You have taken on an obligation of vast proportions.  You will leave here with the power to prescribe any of more than 6,000 drugs. You will be permitted to put needles, wires, and tubes into human beings.  Hundreds will depend on you personally for their lives and happiness. 

And so, in choosing to devote yourselves to the pursuit of medicine, you are carrying on one of the greatest American, one of the greatest human, traditions – the tradition of service.  Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, called upon each of us to define our lives in terms of service to causes larger than ourselves.  He said, “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” 

And it is a world that greatly needs each and every one of you.  The challenges that face our world and your generation of doctors are truly daunting, but not insurmountable.  The scourge of HIV/AIDS is destroying families around the globe, leaving children orphaned and communities broken.  The epidemic of cancer haunts mankind, attacking old and young without discrimination.  Malaria, hepatitis, tuberculosis, SARS, West-Nile virus, and so many other diseases plague our planet, causing pain and suffering.  But despite these monumental challenges, I remain an optimist.  I am an optimist because sitting before me today are men and women who have the intelligence, the will and the education to confront and solve these problems.  You have spent the past four years in a community that is committed to the service of others and you will carry the lessons of those years with you for the rest of your lives.  Some among you may one day work to unlock the secrets of leukemia or of sickle cell anemia.  Some may work to rid the world of AIDS or to eliminate malaria.  Now is your time to lead.  You have the education and training to leave this world a better place than you found it.

I cannot claim to profess knowledge of the road that lies ahead, for no doubt each of you will forge your own path with its unique challenges and rewards.  But this would not be a commencement address if I did not try to offer you a few words of advice.  So let’s start with the basics:

Be kind to your patients.  Be kind to them because small acts of kindness can make a big difference when you least realize it.  Be kind because one day, you too will be a patient.  The extra moment you take to ask where someone grew up or if he saw last night’s baseball game will help you make a human connection that your patients will value more than you can imagine.  In fact, if medicine is anything like diplomacy -- and I think in many ways they have a great deal in common – establishing a personal connection can mean the difference between a mediocre job and an outstanding job.  The fact that you know what’s best from a medical perspective does not mean that patients will follow your instructions.  You must establish a rapport and earn their trust.  Patient care, like diplomacy, requires mutual understanding and following up to see that agreements and plans have been carried out.  If you cannot relate to your patients as fellow human beings, all the knowledge in the world may not be able to help you help them.  

Take the time to be thoughtful and careful thinkers.  I know many a sleepless night awaits you in your residencies and when you are tired and burned out it can be difficult to make the extra effort.  Make the effort.   Train your minds to see the spaces between black and white, to reject knee-jerk reactions to ideas and to recognize the complexities of situations and arguments.  You will encounter many dilemmas throughout your careers, both personal and professional.  Remember that changing your mind is a not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.  If you can remain open to new ideas and reject the trends of popular culture in favor of careful analysis and your own clinical experience you will be better doctors and better people for it. 

But don’t only think carefully about the world – engage it.  I hope you have found ideas and causes that are deeply meaningful to you.  Much of health relates to war and poverty.  Do not shy away from adding your voice to the public discourse.  We need your wisdom outside the walls of academia and hospitals.  When doctors engage the world, they can do incredible things.  In countries around the world, volunteer physicians at various organizations provide health care, run hospitals and clinics, perform surgery, battle epidemics, carry out vaccination campaigns, and operate feeding centers for malnourished children.  And close to home, Israeli and Palestinian physicians who have chosen to get involved in the world around them cooperate locally to provide medical care for those who need it and to work towards peace.

My doctorate is in statistics, so I say practice "Evidence-Based Medicine."  Do not dismiss the skeptic patient, after all, some of what you practice today will be proven foolhardy by the statistics of tomorrow.  This is why you will all need your own skepticism, humilty, sense of humor, and of course lots of statistics.

As you return to North America for your residencies, remember the incredible spirit of cooperation you have seen in the Israeli hospitals where people of all backgrounds, Jewish, Muslim and Christian, all share the beds of suffering as well as the staff positions of doctors and nurses, physical therapists and technicians, custodians and administrators.  When people ask you about how life was in this troubled part of the world, tell them about the unique spirit of unity and cooperation that makes the healthcare sector in Israel shine as a guiding light in Israeli society and in the region at large.

You have chosen a life of service as healers in a world where millions of our fellow human beings suffer physical and emotional pain each and every day.  Like diplomats, doctors struggle against uncertainty, tedium, and error, knowing they will sometimes fail, but doing so because the stakes are high.  At times, you will find yourselves bearing the awesome responsibility of making choices that determine life or death.  You will, no doubt, face marvelous highs and devastating lows.  Know that while you must live for your patients, you cannot live only for them.  You must live your own lives too.  Perhaps on that subject Albert Einstein said it best when he said:  “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.”  Congratulations.