Vital Signs
Advice? Check. Award? Check. Must be Class Day!
By Amos Esty
Dr. Donald Ingber, the keynote speaker at DMS's 2009 Class Day ceremony, never took an engineering course but heads the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. He never trained in surgery or pathology but holds an endowed chair at Harvard in both departments. "So," he asked the graduates, "how did I get here?"
Path: As Ingber explained his own career path, he reminded listeners not to be so focused on a single route that they lose sight of other opportunities. "A straight line doesn't always get you to where you want to be," he said. Over the years, his penchant for veering in new directions has led to a number of unexpected findings, such as helping uncover the possibility of using antiangiogenesis treatments to target cancer.
The Ph.D. student speaker, Samuel Bakhoum, shares Ingber's enthusiasm for research. "To me, the Ph.D. training is simply a way of nurturing one of our most basic and fundamental instincts as human beings: curiosity," Bakhoum said. Curiosity, he noted, has led to many important advances in medicine.

Wordles of wisdom
Check out a different way to analyze the Class Day speeches.
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Interns: M.D. grad Narath Carlile told his classmates that, even as interns, they will have a lot to contribute. "With the way we treat our patients and our medical students, we can immediately start becoming the change we would like to see," he said.
When the speeches ended, several students and faculty were recognized. Mara Rendi received the Dean's Medal, which goes to the top M.D. graduate; Peter Belenky received the Strohbehn Medal for his achievements in the Ph.D. program; and Daniel Kaser received the Good Physician Award.
Dr. Roshini Pinto-Powell, a general internist, received the class's Clinical Science Teaching Award; Dr. Harold Manning, a pulmonologist, the Basic Science Teaching Award; and Dr. David Hughes, a resident in surgery, the Thomas P. Almy Housestaff Teaching Award.
Degrees: In all, 157 graduates walked across the stage: 63 M.D.'s; 34 Ph.D.'s (12 in biochemistry, three in genetics, five in microbiology and immunology, six in pharmacology and toxicology, three in physiology, and five in health policy and clinical practice); 47 M.P.H.'s; and 13 M.S.'s (two in genetics, two in pharmacology and toxicology, and nine in health policy and clinical practice).
"A straight line doesn't always get you to where you want to be."
After Dartmouth language professor John Rassias led the new M.D.'s in reciting the Hippocratic oath, all the degree recipients took their first steps as DMS graduates, perhaps recalling Ingber's parting advice. "Let me remind you that the future is not something that you confront," he said. "It's something that you can craft and sculpt, if you set your mind to it."
Class of 2009 Prizes and Awards
Dean's Medal
Mara Rendi
Good Physician Award
Daniel Kaser
John W. Strohbehn Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research
Peter Belenky
Frederic P. Lord Award in Anatomy
Mara Rendi
Department of Anesthesiology Award
Peter Burrage
C. Everett Koop, M.D., Courage Award
Vivianne Tawfik
John F. Radebaugh Community Service Award
J. Kristofer Sherwood, Christal Costello Yuo
Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award
Narath Carlile
Julian and Melba Jarrett Memorial Prize
Narath Carlile
Saul Blatman Award for Excellence in Maternal and Child Health
Gabriel Civiello
Payson-Hampers M.D.-M.B.A. Scholars Award
Natalia Berry, William Cronin
Department of Medicine Award
Narath Carlile
Merck Manual Awards
William Cronin, Laura Erickson-Schroth, Kristen Yurkerwich
American Academy of Neurology Prize
Carolyn Bevan
Barry D. Smith, M.D., Award for Excellence in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Daniel Kaser
Dr. Freddie Fu Orthopaedic Surgery Award
Der-Chen Huang
E. Elizabeth French Award in Pathology
Mara Rendi
Department of Psychiatry Award
Katherine Shea
Harte C. Crow Award in Radiology
Sword Cambron
Hitchcock Foundation Student Research Prize
Daniel Kaser, Benjamin Northrup
Douglas P. Zipes, M.D., Research Prize in Medicine
Andrea Russo
Arthur Naitove Surgical Scholar Award
Courtney Warner
American Medical Women's Association Glasgow-Rubin Achievement Citation
Mara Rendi, Kara Detwiller,
Jennifer Talmadge, Vasilena Zheleva
John and Sophia Zaslow Prize
Heather Anderson
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