SIU School of Medicine holds 44th Commencement
Jase Camp of Lincoln among the graduates

 

[May 25, 2018]  Seventy-two physicians and one graduate student at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine received their diplomas on Saturday, May 19, in the Sangamon Auditorium at University of Illinois Springfield during the school’s 44th commencement.

This year’s commencement speaker was U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). Durbin previously spoke at the 1995 commencement as a congressman, when he represented the 20th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also was a volunteer professor of medical humanities at SIU School of Medicine from 1986-97. His remarks touched upon America’s need for affordable health care and prescription medicine, the challenges physicians face to curb the nation’s opioid epidemic and the critical importance of scientific research funding, which has led to discoveries like the mapping of the human genome.

Durbin commended SIU’s leaders and physicians for confronting medical challenges within its 66-county region and extending its expertise to those in need. “As part of its mission as a safety net medical school, SIU is the premier institution in Illinois when it comes to fulfilling the social mission and accountability of medical education, responsible for providing care to 2.2 million people in our state,” Durbin said. “SIU is the heart and soul of health care in central and southern Illinois. I’m grateful to have the medical institution in my hometown, because SIU School of Medicine is a school with a conscience.”

During the ceremony, Class of 2018 Chair Jordan Markel, MD, of Bunker Hill delivered remarks on behalf of the graduates. Dean and Provost Jerry Kruse, MD, MSPH, awarded diplomas to the medical students, and Vice Chancellor Meera Komarraju conferred the degrees.

Several students and faculty members received awards. Janet Albers, MD, ’87, professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, received the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Paul Checchia, MD, ’93, received the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award, which recognizes alumni for their outstanding contributions to medicine and distinguished service to humankind. Vidyha Prakash, MD, associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Class of 2018 graduate Travis Wieland, MD, received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Awards, presented by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

The new SIU physicians will begin residency training in their chosen specialties in July.

SIU Medicine’s mission is to assist the people of central and southern Illinois in meeting their health care needs through education, patient care, research and service to the community. Established in 1970, the medical school is based in Carbondale and Springfield and is specifically oriented to educating new physicians prepared to practice in Illinois communities. Since 1975, 2,820 physicians, plus the 2018 graduates, have earned SIU medical degrees.

Among the 72 is one student from Logan County - Jase Camp. Jase is the son of Mike and Cheryl Camp of Lincoln.

View the 2018 commencement at http://bit.ly/siusom2018 or see pictures from the event at http://bit.ly/photos-grad2018.

Graduate portraits can be viewed at http://siumed.zenfolio.com/class2018.

[SIU MEDICINE]