It's commencement season — meaning medical schools across the country are looking to seriously accomplished people to inspire tens of thousands of graduates before they toss their caps in the air and head for their residencies.
Who did the top medical schools choose to impart those final words of wisdom on their graduates? Here we curated a list of commencement speakers for the top 10 medical schools, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. (Note: Universities total 10, although the list includes ties, which results in a numerical listing of eight.)
1. Harvard Medical School (Boston) — Steven Spielberg, director, producer and screenwriter (general commencement speaker), Jeffrey Flier, MD, dean of the faculty of medicine at Harvard (Class Day speaker)
2. Stanford (Calif.) University — Ken Burns, documentary film maker (commencement speaker); Peter Kim, PhD, professor of biochemistry (Stanford Medicine diploma ceremony speaker)
3. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore) — Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil, Pulitzer Prize recipient and author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
3. University of California – San Francisco School of Medicine — Leslie Benet, PhD, professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at UCSF
3. University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (Philadelphia) — Michael Brown, MD,Nobel Laureate, co-recipient of 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
6. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis — John Lewis, U.S. representative of Georgia's 5th Congressional District, civil rights leader (general commencement speaker)
7. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York) — Paula Johnson, MD, executive director of the Connor's Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology, chief of women's health at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, member of the National Academy of Medicine
8. Duke University School of Medicine (Durham, N.C.) — Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski, Duke University men's basketball head coach (general commencement speaker)
8. University of Washington School of Medicine (Seattle) — Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (general commencement speaker); Physician's Oath and Hooding Ceremony speaker TBA
8. Yale School of Medicine (New Haven, Conn.) — Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
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