Convocation of Thanks Student Reflection

On Tuesday the medical, dental, and graduate students had a "Convocation of Thanks" in honor of those who had donated their physical remains so that we may learn. I was chosen to write a student reflection and present it as a speech during the ceremony. Here is my reflection:

The best teachers stay with us throughout life. Their lessons and examples go far beyond the scope of any lecture, textbook, or diagram. Their ideals and character remain well after their students have walked, diploma in hand, across a stage and into the next period of their life.

The best teachers are commended for their dedication, their passion for knowledge, and their sacrifice. They do not simply allow us to memorize rote facts, but give us the tools and the abilities to understand. The best teachers take a part of them and leave it with every student they teach.

I met the best teacher of my life on the first day of medical class. I was scared and nervous and he taught me to be confident and brave. He taught me lessons on dedication, dignity, compassion, empathy, and respect. He took his act of dying and made it an example on how to cope with my own mortality and the mortality of my future patients.

This teacher was my first patient: the man who had donated his body so that I may learn. His dedication and belief in our future as physicians is a gift I can never fully repay. For the rest of my life he will remain as my conscience and guide me to be the best person I can.

It is fitting that in a ceremony where my class was introduced into the medical community, merely days before we met our first patients, this quote was shared with our class: “If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” The individuals who shared their bodies with us, in order that we may learn and “see further” are our giants. They will never be forgotten by us for their selfless gift and their humbling lessons. On behalf of my classmates and from the bottom of my heart I thank them

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