The Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) at Stony Brook University held its 51st Convocation on May 19, where 133 graduates received their Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees. These new physicians will begin their residency training in early July.
This group is set to practice medicine across more than 20 specialties, including primary care, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, neurology, radiology, surgery, and psychiatry. The graduates will work at leading hospitals and academic medical centers in New York State and 17 other states. A majority, 55 percent, will remain in New York, with nearly 15 percent staying at Stony Brook Medicine.
The demand for more physicians remains high due to aging populations and the need for specialists. With new technologies emerging in diagnosis and treatment and the rise of AI and telemedicine, opportunities for advancement in medicine are expected to grow. The new MDs entering the workforce will play a significant role in this progress.
Peter Igarashi, MD, the Knapp Dean of RSOM and presider over the convocation, congratulated the graduates on their dedication and achievements. “Over the last four plus years at the Renaissance School of Medicine, you have received the best medical education that New York State has to offer,” said Dr. Igarashi. “The combination of training in the science and art of medicine and the social determinants of health has prepared you to be doctors well-equipped for whoever walks in the door.”
Susan M. Wolf, JD delivered the convocation address. She is a nationally recognized leader in medicine, law, and ethics as well as Chair of the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & Life Sciences at the University of Minnesota. Professor Wolf's work addresses ethical and legal challenges in patient care and biomedical research.
She urged students to uphold high ethical standards while advocating for patients during caregiving processes amid rapid advancements in medicine. Despite these advances, quality-of-life issues remain critical.
Throughout the day-long celebration with faculty members as well as friends and family members present was an acknowledgment from graduates directed towards their parents and loved ones who supported them through medical school.
Since its first graduating class in 1974 until now with Class Of '25 RSOM has issued over five thousand MD degrees along with hundreds each PhD & master’s level qualifications totaling up-to six thousand two hundred alumni worldwide.