Physician and best-selling author of ‘My Own Country, Professor Abraham Verghese, to receive honorary doctorate
250 future doctors from 26 different countries around the world donned caps and gowns to graduate from RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) on Thursday 5th June. Medical degrees were presented to graduands at the annual conferring ceremony in the Convention Centre, Dublin.
Pictured outside RCSI are recent graduates (l-r) Ciara Nolan, Fetema Mewa, Nasayem Alquraini and Elaine Houlihan
The RCSI School of Medicine conferring ceremony sees the largest number of doctors in Ireland graduate each year. The conferring ceremony is a celebration for students and their families who travelled from all over the world to attend the ceremony.
Fetema Mewa fixes her brother and fellow graduates cap, Shabbir Mewa
Mr Declan Magee, President RCSI, congratulated all those who graduated on their success. "You have become the newest constituents of, what I call, the RCSI World Wide Web and, wherever you end up in the world, you will not be far from a fellow Royal Collegian. So, be confident that you are now armed with the knowledge, clinical skills and attitudes to properly, in the words of your oath, consecrate your lives to the service of humanity. Go forward with enthusiasm to share our vision that you will be the healthcare leaders of tomorrow, who WILL make a difference worldwide."
Pictured (l-r) is Ciara Nolan, Elaine Houlihan, Michael Flanagan, Nasayem Alquraini and Elias Chamely
An honorary doctorate was awarded to Professor Abraham C. Verghese, physician and best-selling author. This is the fourth RCSI honorary doctorate to be awarded since RCSI received independent degree awarding status in 2010. An infectious disease physician, Verghese is senior associate chair and professor of the theory and practice of medicine at Stanford University. He is a strong advocate for the value of bedside medicine skills and physical diagnosis; skills he sees as waning in an era of increasingly sophisticated medical technology. At Stanford, he was instrumental in the development of the "The Stanford 25″ initiative that is designed to showcase and teach 25 fundamental physical exam skills and their diagnostic benefits to interns. His books, My Own Country, The Tennis Partner and Cutting for Stone, which have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, offer his insights into the fundamentals of bedside medicine, which he feels are essential to patient care and to the doctor/patient relationship.
Pictured is Ciara Nolan, Elaine Houlihan, Michael Flanagan and Elias Chamely
In reading the citation at the conferring ceremony Professor Hannah McGee, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences said: "RCSIs motto is Consilio Maneque - with Scholarship and Dexterity - with the head and the hand - and so Professor Abraham Verghese - your values concerning the practice of medicine, and in your skilled communication of these as a writer to a wide public as well as professional audience - are values that seamlessly align with our own foundation motto. Indeed your title of Professor in the Theory and Practice of Medicine does so too. We felt your achievements particularly suited and would bring honour to our annual single award of honorary doctorate - and so we are very pleased that you have accepted this invitation to join our special graduation ceremony today and to accept the highest academic award of the RCSI - the RCSI 2014 Honorary Doctorate."
All smiles at graduation!
The 250 graduates were conferred with Honours Degree of Bachelor of Medicine, NUI, Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor of Obstetrics MB, BCh, BAO (NUI, RCSI), LRCP & SI.
Perfect day for Conferrings
RCSI is a not-for-profit health sciences institute which focuses on education and research to drive positive change in all areas of human health worldwide. RCSI is headquartered in Dublin and is a recognised College of the National University of Ireland. In 2010, RCSI was granted independent degree awarding status by the State, which enables the College to award degrees alongside its traditional powers to award licentiates.