Medical school graduate Tom Roberts, MD, MBA, lingered with his father, mother and two sisters just prior to the ceremony. He would have to dash off immediately after the ceremony to grab his second diploma at a cross-campus ceremony for Stanford MBA graduates.

I was surprised he went into medicine, said his dad, Ken Roberts, beaming with pride. He always said Im not going into medicine, said his mother, Sheila Roberts. Tom said that Ken, a physician himself in the town of Mechanicsville, Virginia, where Tom grew up, set a good example for him.

The two student speakers Zachary Zappala, who earned a PhD in genetics, and Monica Coughlan, who earned an MD offered words of encouragement and congratulations to their fellow graduates.

Coughlan, who is headed to UC-San Francisco for a residency in orthopaedic surgery, thanked her patients for teaching her so much, including humility.

Our hands were the first to hold a newborn baby as we delivered them to their mother, she said. ... We have easily worked with thousands of patients. Patients whose stories we will never forget.

Zappala discussed his worries about starting a career as a scientist in the current political climate but reassured his classmates.

We are living in an unpredictable political climate where support for scientific research has become disturbingly partisan, he said. In particular, our government seems to place little merit on scientific research as it proposed significant funding cuts of the National Institutes of Health, which has funded most of our education."

Its important for us to rebuild public trust in science, he added. You are well-equipped to tackle anything that comes your way, and I wish you all the best of luck.

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Surgeon-scientist urges medical school graduates to advocate for equality in health care - Stanford Medical Center Report