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Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A. Surgeon General of the United States

Graduation is always a memorable event and a high point of the academic year, but this year’s ceremony will be especially noteworthy. In addition to welcoming 89 outstanding new physicians into the medical profession, attendees will be treated to a commencement address by a very special guest speaker: Regina Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A., Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service.

Sometimes the most effective approach to research is simply to take a closer look at existing data and analyze it in new ways. This is exactly the strategy Sara Paton, Ph.D., employed when called on to lead an investigation into alarmingly high breast cancer rates in Madison County, Ohio.

Cynthia Olsen, M.D. (’85), believes in tradition.

Whether it’s a family legacy of teaching and learning, the personal care and commitment exemplified by many old-fashioned country doctors, or a family practice’s half-century history of service to the community, Olsen is passionate about preserving the best of the past, even as she eagerly prepares for the future.

The connection between music and medicine is an old one, stretching back through the ages to ancient Greece. Apollo, the Greek god of healing and music, was the father of both Asclepius and the Muses. The rod of Asclepius, a snake-entwined staff, has endured as the symbol of medicine to this day.

Well before she even considered a future career in medicine, Jill Waibel, M.D. (’01), (then Jill Stewart) found herself near the center of national public health crisis. As a high school senior in Cicero, Indiana, in 1987, Waibel became a reluctant but passionate spokesperson when her school district welcomed a new student: Ryan White.

With significant new advances announced every year, the pace of change in medicine often seems lightning-fast. In reality, many years of diligent work may be necessary to develop, test, refine, and roll out new treatments or technology. In fact, sometimes the quest to bring the benefits of a medical innovation to patients can become a family legacy spanning generations.

Such is the case for Mark Anstadt, M.D., (’86) FACS, who has worked for more than 30 years to perfect a life-saving device his father, George L. Anstadt, invented in the early 1960s.

Nobel Laureate Oliver Smithies’ 60 years of research as a bench scientist are meticulously recorded in nearly 140 notebooks spanning his entire career, from his time as an undergraduate student at Oxford, through the groundbreaking research that led to the Nobel Prize, and up to the present day.

Since its foundation in 1973, the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine has embraced a strong emphasis on primary care.

This priority has always been clearly reflected in the school’s mission, which includes “focusing on generalist training that is integrated, supported, and strengthened by specialists and researchers.”

The 2009 Reunion Weekend, sponsored by the Medical Alumni Association, brought together members of the classes of 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999, and 2004 for a weekend of family fun and fond memories in mid-July. The weekend began with a private, after-hours dinner and reception at the Newport Aquarium, where alumni and their guests enjoyed full access to the aquarium’s thousands of animals and 70 exhibits, including 200 feet of immersive observation tunnels.

As a high school student from a small town in the heart of Ohio’s Amish country, Ryan Schmucker never considered a career in medicine until he job-shadowed a local surgeon.

“I was completely hooked from that point. I was just fascinated. I began to see medicine as something I could really enjoy doing. It’s working with people, it’s serving people, and there’s also never a dull moment—you’re constantly challenged.”

When Justin Fox, M.D., left community college to enlist in the Air Force at age 18, he had no intention of going back, let alone enrolling in medical school.

“I volunteered at a hospital when I was in 7th or 8th grade,” Fox said, “and I hated it. I never thought medicine was something I was going to pursue.”

The new Medical Education Center in White Hall was specifically designed to serve as a “home away from home” for medical students, especially during the first two years of intensive pre-clinical study. Since the building opened in fall 2008, some 200 incoming students have voted with their feet (and stiff backs, and tired eyes) and their verdict is unanimous: mission accomplished.