Tomorrow is for the rigors of residency, continuing training, and for some, leaving Colorado. However, this day was for celebrating.
A few years ago, more than 14,000 hopeful students applied to be a part of the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Class of 2025, and 744 interviewed for slots in the class. On May 19, close to 180 graduates became doctors of medicine at the Hooding and Oath Ceremony at Boettcher Commons on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, marking the school’s 142nd year of training tomorrow’s healers.
“Over the past four years, we’ve come to know one another deeply, not just as friends, but as future colleagues,” Andy Ascencio, MD, co-president of the class of 2025, told the crowd of graduates, faculty, loved ones, and friends. “Together, we’ve grown in our professional identities, evolved in our personal values, and learned how to truly connect. We’ve conquered a new curriculum, laid a new foundation, cared for patients, championed causes we believe in, conducted meaningful research, founded new initiatives, and yes, even celebrated.”
The graduates who gathered on a sometimes-chilly morning represented 29 states, with 31 born outside the United States.
“We’ve consistently shown a natural instinct to support and care for one another,” said another class co-president, YooJin Yoon, MD. “Yes, we’ve learned a great deal throughout medical school. And while that knowledge is essential, it’s the empathy, respect, and genuine friendships you extend to your colleagues, patients, mentors, and each other that truly sets this class apart. These qualities can’t be taught; they’re part of who we are.”
→ Graduation 2025: Graduate profiles, speaker bio and more
Curiosity, commitment, leadership
As noted by Brian Dwinnell, MD, the CU School of Medicine’s associate dean of student life, in opening the ceremony, the Class of 2025 experienced many firsts. It was the first to include students who matriculated at the Fort Collins Regional Medical Campus, the first to be supported by COMPASS guides all four years, and – most importantly – the first graduating class to be fully trained under the school’s redesigned Trek Curriculum.
“The pillars of our Trek Curriculum are curiosity, commitment, and leadership,” Dwinnell told the graduates. “You, the Class of 2025, embody these pillars.”
India Bonner, MD, selected by her classmates to speak, offered a lively account of the medical school experience, noting that “caffeine became a close friend to a lot of us.”
Beyond textbooks and technical skills, Bonner said, the Class of 2025 “learned how to sit with people in their hardest moments, to listen even when we didn’t know what to do next, how to stay present even when we felt uncertain or afraid, to persevere when it was uncomfortable to keep going, even if we weren’t sure that we could. That is the real heart of medicine, and that is what I hope we carry with us today.”
Bonner challenged her classmates to “let your impact be measured not only by the patients you treat, but by the barriers you help dismantle, the dignity you protect, the trust you build, and the communities you serve.”
Guest speaker Mona Hanna, MD. Photo by Melissa Santorelli | CU School of Medicine
A megaphone and a mission
The guest speaker was Mona Hanna, MD, a pediatrician and associate dean for public health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, who a decade ago played a key role in exposing contamination of the public water supply in Flint, Michigan, known as the Flint water crisis.
Hanna began her exuberant talk by congratulating the graduates. “Wow! You made it through textbooks and exams, sleepless nights and Match Day stress, let’s not forget a global pandemic, political upheaval, and a health care system under strain. You climbed the mountain, and I think in Colorado, you know what it means more than anywhere else.”
She recounted the Flint crisis, saying she was “attacked, dismissed, and discredited” when she sounded the alarm about lead in the city’s water. “Officials called me hysterical, but I held the line, because that’s what medicine demands of us, to hold the line when no one else will, and the truth won out, and we began the long, hard work of healing.”
Hanna told the graduates: “You are now the guardians of health and justice,” adding: “You didn’t just earn an MD. You inherited a megaphone and a mission. Use it to sit with a patient in pain and to stand with a community in crisis. Use it to change what happens in the clinic and what happens in the capital. Use it to prescribe, not just for disease, but for health. That’s who you are. Being a doctor isn’t a job. It's a promise.”
CU School of Medicine Dean John Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA, greets a graduate. Photo by Melissa Santorelli | CU School of Medicine
Dean’s first address to grads
In another first for the Class of 2025, John Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA, presented his first address to a graduating class as the CU School of Medicine dean.
“You are joining our noble profession at a time where more than ever, we need your commitment and compassion,” Sampson said. “However, we are confident that you have now developed the knowledge and skills necessary to heal the wounds and relieve the suffering, not only of your individual patients, but also of our communities.”
He urged the new MDs to look around at their classmates, who he said “offer extraordinary inspiration. Each one of you came from distant locations to arrive today at this one destination. Some of your classmates overcame incredible adversity. Some changed careers well into another profession to go to medical school, and others followed bravely in their parents’ footsteps. In every case, you now set out on a new adventure, and it’s your chance to make a difference.”
And Sampson added: “Now you will be called ‘doctor.’ This transition will not be easy all the time, but do not be afraid of this change. Be courageous. Go out and change the world.”
Graduates during the hooding ceremony. Photos by Melissa Santorelli | CU School of Medicine
Hooding and oath
Then, one by one, the graduates were called to the stage to receive a hood representing their new profession, a ritual dating back to the Middle Ages. The hood is lined with CU’s colors, black and gold, and the dark green velvet trim signifies a medical degree.
At the program’s conclusion, the graduates recited the Physician’s Oath as follows.
I swear by what is sacred to me that I will fulfill, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this covenant:
I devote myself to the health of humanity, with full respect for the dignity and worth of each person. Above all, I will strive to do no harm.
I recognize that my knowledge and skills are imperfect, and that I must always seek further training and growth. I will not perform treatments for which I am not qualified, and I will call upon others for help. In turn, I will gladly render aid when asked.
I commit myself to the profession of medicine, to the advancement of scientific knowledge, and to the education and mentorship of those who follow me.
I will respect the rights of my patients and colleagues and shall safeguard those confidences placed in me.
I will speak out when silence is wrong. I will respect the law, but I will not fail to seek changes that would reduce suffering or contribute to good health.
I recognize the trust that has been placed in me by society and by my colleagues. I will at all times comport myself with dignity, honesty, humility, and integrity.
These things I do swear solemnly, freely, and upon my personal and professional honor.
Photos: Graduates at the CU School of Medicine's Hooding and Oath Ceremony on May 19, 2025.All photos by Melissa Santorelli | CU School of Medicine
