Ten months ago, the Class of 2020 marked the official end of their time at Duke-NUS with a Hippocratic Oath ceremony, which was held virtually at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. Today, they finally celebrated their achievements at an in-person ceremony, witnessed by Guest-of-Honour Senior Minister of State with the Ministries of Communications and Information and Health Dr Janil Puthucheary. Dr Janil was joined by Duke-NUS, NUS and SingHealth Governing Board, leadership and senior faculty while students’ families and loved ones joined virtually.
The ceremony commenced with a speech by Professor Thomas Coffman, Duke-NUS Dean, during which he congratulated the Class of 2020 on overcoming the challenges of graduating during a global pandemic.
“To the Class of 2020: you were always going to be a memorable class because you’re our tenth graduation cohort,” said Prof Coffman. “And your graduation coincided with another very important event in Duke-NUS history: our 15th anniversary. But COVID came along, so now you will also be remembered as the class who graduated at the peak of a global pandemic. Unlike any previous cohort, you were faced with uncertainty and everchanging circumstances, which you overcame, demonstrating your grit and resilience.”
Guest-of-Honour Dr Janil, a former Associate Professor at Duke-NUS himself, added his words of encouragement with the graduates: “That trust that is reposed in you allows you to transform societies as well as the lives of individual patients. Your compassion for humanity, your integrity in your personal conduct and by demonstrating the professionalism of holding up yourselves to the highest ethical standards, I am sure you will do all of this.”
After the words of encouragement and congratulations from Prof Coffman and Dr Janil, it was the students’ turn to take to the stage. MD-PhD graduate Dr Justin Hsieh reminisced about their time at medical school and the strong bonds forged.
“We have picked each other up when we felt we may never get enough data for publication and have shared in the joy when that paper was published,” said Dr Hsieh. “We have cheered each other on when we felt that we may never be competent enough to treat patients and celebrated together when we passed the final year exam. We have become friends, and I want to remind all of us to never forget these bonds forged, and to always support each other no matter where we end up.”