How do you follow Dr. Mangione?
Alright, I'm not gonna lie, when they asked me to give the title of my speech a few months
ago,
I was just bingeing on Adele, and hadn't written
a word of it yet, so that might explain that part.
Good evening everybody!
Whoo! I feel like I just stepped on an epi
pen, my heart's racing a little bit.
It's all good
I can see my parents sitting up front shaking their head wondering,
“Who the hell let him get up on there?”
Nah, it's cool, they do keep asking me this
one question
that I actually think also applies to all
of you as well,
my peers, my soon-to-be-colleagues, my friends,
and that is,
how in the world did we actually get here?
Right? I mean seriously,
look to your left, look to your right
You know one of them has probably been seen dancing atop counters
at the bars in Philly
I’m looking at you Jake and Preethi probably too
you know one of them has probably
fallen asleep while retracting a surgery
(*cough*Raj)
,and others of us even found out
we got some great swimmers
,hashtag med school babies.
I mean, seriously, Julian, Owu, like all you guys
I don’t know how you guys did it, that's amazing, it's really really awesome.
and yet i say, yet
here you sit
Even when you said
you couldn’t do it anymore,
and I literally heard that before even our first anatomy exam,
you went ahead and made it.
You passed those exams
you evacuated those patients’ bowels
you got one out of ten pimping questions right
by blindly guessing
and even when they made
you
cry on the wards
or get knocked out by a patient in the psych wards
Salini, you real strong girl
you pulled through
and that's incredible.
But we can’t give ourselves much credit
without also appreciating
some of the incredible teachers we’ve had along the way
here at Jefferson, as well as well before it.
There’s a Turkish saying that goes
a good teacher
is like a candle
consuming itself to light
the way for others.
We owe a lot to them.
And here at Jefferson
bright as they have
been,
we’ve also had some quirky candles.
I mean, Dr. Lackritz gave some of the best
lectures through the year,
but we also found out what language sounded like
in the Pre-Punctuation era
where
how many words can we fit into one lecture!
On the other hand
we also have
Dr. Akhtar, who I swear
he could cure ventricular arrhythmias
with simply the smooth sound of his voice
whispering sweet psychoanalytic nothings
“So you're telling
me that your heart is racing,
but seriously,
what is your relationship with your mother
like?”
On the other hand, you know one of the doctors
probably walks into the wards,
and everytime he walks in, he's probably like,
“Mhmmm,
the sweet smell of mischief abounds.”
But you know, Dr. Berg, he's our yoda. And we love him for that.
And then we have Dr. Mangione
he has me convinced
that love originated in Italy
because heart sounds now all have
distinct Italian accents.
Ken-tucky, Ken-tucky, Ken-tucky!
That's an S3, this guy has a big heart, we got that!
I could go on all day with this but
these role models and so many more
have inspired us to
spread across the country
and join some incredible fields
Family medicine
where you guys at? You guys in the house?
My peoples who believe that
a double dose of empathy and a reassuring
pat on the back
can really cure heart disease.
But, come on, we know more that that,
right?
My internal med people in the house?
You guys love talking about
the 500 causes of hyponatremia.
God forbid if your patient’s sodium drops by like two points
well it could be low PO intake
or CANCER.
Yup, order every test in the EMR.
All my residents going into surgical
fields.
Yea, you guys sound real confident. Wow. Really.
But seriously though, I was reading an article and
this completely autonomous robot did
a full bowel resection surgery on a pig the
other day.
So
Here's to drinking tonight.
Your careers are definitely secure.
Ob-gyn’s in the house!
You sound excited now
but give em a couple years and you yell OB-GYN!
they’re like hissss.
That's how you know they're on nights.
And then we can’t of course forget our lovely Emergency doctors
those badass CPR pumping,
adrenaline junkies
who we all love
to hate on. I mean.
God forbid you guys actually admit a patient
who needs to be admitted
then who would we have to blame for all of life's problems?
And yet, knowing all of this,
even anticipating the grueling hours
and the likely waves of nausea and panic attacks
that will come before our first overnight call or ICU shift
knowing all of that, we still eagerly await to
jump into our respective fields
and gain excellence.
So You know what I see here?
I see a generation of doctors
rallying together as a movement,
speaking even larger than the political movements
going on in this election season.
I mean, hey, listen
if I had
a red toupe of hair kind of going on
I might want to say that
we are going to
make Medicine great again!
We’re gonna build a wall
around our loan collectors
and then we're gonna get the NBME to pay for it.
Now if I was an old Jewish grandpa
with wind-tusseled wisps of white hair
I might go on to say that
we need a medical revolution!
So I ask you,
Do you
Feel The Burn?
Because if you do,
you might need some
bactrim or antifungals
either way,
the millionaire and billionaire drug companies are holding them all,
and we need them back!
On the complete other hand,
if I were to do a whole sex change
and have like a nice blonde-grey
streaked bob,
other than now having to hold it in
during the North Carolina portion of
my road trips
I would probably have some advice that
it's probably not the best idea to
mix my work emails and home emails
to avoid any HIPPAA violations or national security.
Whatever, I'm totally joking around!
But the reason I bring it up is because
the current political situation is actually
still very much relevant today.
There’s no denying that the country
is battling overhow we perceive the current state of affairs
and how we envision the future direction to be.
Now, as heated as it has been
and as polarizing it seems to be going,
I do want to talk about
one part of this country
This country that I have come
to call home for almost 16 years now.
You see my parents actually took a big risk in
leaving behind lives and careers and whole networks behind
to come to the other side of the world
just for the chance of having the best
education
as well as having the opportunities to actually realize our dreams.
So what you might not
know though
is that
as a young boy,
I was one of the most quietest and introverted people I knew
Honestly, I only talked to my mother back in those days.
I had yet to find my voice.
But
the welcoming culture
and the melting pot of people I met
the wild abandon with which they
dreamed and pursued life goals,
the way they could challenge conventional norms as well as each other
these ideas began surrounding and wrapping around  me.
Along the road, I started meeting people from
all walks of life,
people who had
a great variety of perspectives and thoughts and opinions
and as different as they were,
they were also so deep and layered
Now I know that the media
paints this whole picture of division and strife
but what it opened my eyes is
to the incredible
diversity of ideas and thoughts that exist
in this land.
And in this ethos of discovery,
a fire ignited within me that would change
what I would come to expect of myself.
So,
to stand here in front you guys today
at the pinnacle of our education
is an honor of magnitude
whose significance does not escape me,
It's something that I'm truly grateful for and humbled by.
But, that being said,
while I was able to grow and learn without restriction
I also came to start learning some truths about this land
Some truths such as just in Philadelphia,
this incredible city of brotherly love and sisterly affection
this city that has given us so much
in terms of enriching our lives and our education
carving itself into our hearts.
This same city with some of the biggest
names
in healthcare and education
from Jefferson to Penn to Temple to Drexel to PCOM,
This same city
has a 67% obesity rate amongst adults
This same city
is pockmarked with food deserts
where a quarter to a third of its residents
get less than one serving of vegetables a day.
This city, I found, harbors souls that
suffer from
poverty, injustice, and
without access to that world of dreams that I had seen.
That world where
ability had the chance to meet opportunity.
And so
how are they even supposed to dream
if they can’t even access healthy foods?
So I’d like to draw 3 points here
about us, our future
and you can draw your own conclusions from there.
So point one.
So I was on this bus from NY to Philly.
This bus then pulls over
to the side and screeches to a halt.
The driver, who I think just recently immigrated to the
country
starts screaming that someone is trying to poison the bus!
And then I realize the lady behind me had opened up this nail polish  remover
and the smell starts wafting up.
So anyways, even as she starts profusely apologizing and closing the cap,
but he’s convinced that he's been poisoned
and so
he's about to call the cops.
Now what I did next, I don’t want
to say
was because I had to get to a date that night.
but I did get up and blurt out,
"Wait!
Umm
I’m almost a doctor.
But um can you tell me what you’re feeling?”
Everyone just stares for a second,
and then the bus driver starts telling me he's got a little bit of a headache, a little bit of queasiness.
I'm like making sure I'm not missing any signs of stroke or something.
But then, we just tell everyone to open the windows on the bus and get him some fruit.
So I say, "Listen,
I'm almost a doctor, and I don't think you're poisoned.
You know maybe if you just smell this fruit, you might feel better.
So he stares at me, stares at the lady who has a puppy face on,
and then grabs the fruit and we’re back
on our way.
So, point number one,
if my saying, I'm almost a doctor
in a squeaky and high-pitched
voice
could have that kind of effect
I wonder what kind of impact we could have
when we gain confidence in our own fields.
I mean
That’s the privilege of our profession.
Now
For the second point, it's much more direct.
There is a difference
between charity and
justice.
Justice
seeks to address the root causes of inequality,
and charity, while commendable
and a positive action,
can only treat its symptoms.
Indeed, charity can often be seen
as a win-win
but justice
not always so.
It often requires personal sacrifice of some form.
Anand Ghiridas once said,
we must remember the contrast between
the easier idea of doing
good by doing well
to the braver notion of
doing good at the risk of doing well.
If ever asked why we must remember
to consider justice over just charity
I am sure we all realize
that none of us got here
simply by ourselves.
There's a system that allowed us access to opportunities.
In fact, there are many of those whom we will never meet
who sacrificed and fought
so that we would have the opportunities to have what we have today
from women’s rights to civil liberties to education reform.
And so it is from the sacrifices and kindnesses of strangers
to the loving support of family members and friends,
that we are able to strive for more.
While we may never be able to repay them,
we owe it to them
to do their love justice
to pay it forward in multifold
because now we can
in ways few other professions ever could.
Now for the third point,
I want to describe another experience.
Our classmate, Sina, and I had actually
recently spent some time at a Syrian refugee camp in
Jordan,
and we had the chance to go to a girls school at the camp
and even sit in on one
of their classes.
Now, what we found there was
they were learning about global warming and they were brainstorming on how they could help stop it.
I have never seen the 100% engagement
as I saw in that classroom that day.
When we asked them about what their career aspirations were,
it varied from
engineer to nurse to astronaut to doctor.
These 14 to 15 year olds
were some of the sharpest students I've met
and I have never
felt the waste
of human potential
so palpably as that day
when the headmistress told us that
less than a third of them
will actually get the chance to even try for any higher education
of which even fewer actually finish.
You see, education
is not as common as we might feel sitting here.
Just in America, only about 39% hold college degrees
and when broken down by race
it's even much worse, with 27%
for African Americans and 20% for latinos.
We see that lack of diversity among us today.
In America, only 2% hold doctorate degrees
and in the world, <7%
hold any degree higher
than high school.
So
I hope we can wrap our minds around the fact that
tomorrow
we enter the ranks of the educated elite
and it begs the question
in today’s unequal world
where such vast disparities exist
Are we called on to be more than just doctors?
but also as advocates
for the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized,?
To help rectify the system.
Whatever our political or philosophical outlook,
Can we engage the world
through more than just propulsion of our own career?
Because
If knowledge is truly power
then tomorrow
we stand to be titans in this world.
Now coming from Jefferson
we enter this field,
not as mere practicioners
but as individuals who can challenge the norms.
Let us strive to thrive
in a manner  that our generation of doctors
is one that history takes note of.
As a cautious optimist,
I know that
it often takes more than just one cohort of people
to make any big changes.
But I also have full confidence
that if we stand together
If we refuse to accept substandard status quos
we just might be able to grab the arc of the universe
and bend it to one
where a more equitable world exists.
or at least create a chance to do so.
Because that is more than
any small group of committed individuals
has ever needed
to create significant impact.
So
I want to take a risk here, go out on a limb if you will
and say the following.
Tomorrow, when we walk up to graduate
as proud Doctors of Medicine
I want to make a statement along with this significant moment
that I will try to leave this field and the world
better than when I entered it.
I plan on taking a picture
either on stage or really whenever I get the chance
to take a picture with a fist placed against my heart.
Now this sounds lame
especially as I'm saying this out aloud now
But,
if you feel as I feel
if you believe as I do
that our calling and our potential
are unique ones
if you believe in the power of symbols
that they can have
then I invite you to do the same.
With diploma in one hand
the other
in a fist
[to signify the resolve of our intention]
and placed against our heart
to remind ourselves years later
of the idealist and the passion that exists within
so that maybe looking back
years later on these memories,
we just might be inspired to try again
or continue trying
for the causes we care about
are too important to ever lose sight of.
That's the only promise we can ever make.
That being said
no matter what happens in the future
one other thing that tomorrow also signals
is a massive culmination  of 2 decades
that's 20 years
of hard work, studying, and sacrifices
along with all the other life experiences we gathered along the way.
No matter what happens
no one can ever take that from you
and moreover
it only portends to the
potential and what you are capable of doing in life
no matter what life throws at you.
So
Congratulations!
And I wanna see all of y'all
walk with all that pride and swag
that you guys have worked so damn hard to earn
as the freshest
the best looking
the most kickass group of doctors the world has ever seen
And so
With the utmost gratitude in our hearts
I wanna say to our dear deans
our professors
and our administrative staff
Med school
It's been real
but Jefferson class of 2016
We out!
