School of Health Professions graduates 115 at Commencement

By Lin Lofley

Graduates

The UT Southwestern School of Health Professions conferred degrees on 115 graduates in Commencement exercises held Dec. 11 in the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium. Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern Medical Center, presented the degrees and Dr. Jon Williamson, Dean of the School of Health Professions, presided over the ceremony.

Dr. Kim Hoggatt Krumwiede, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the School of Health Professions, provided program descriptions and was joined by School of Health Professions alumnus Dr. Shih-hsuan “Gary” Wang, who offered the Opening Words and concluded the ceremony with the Charge to the Graduates.

Dr. Bruce Meyer
Dr. Bruce Meyer

In his commencement address, Dr. Bruce Meyer, Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs, welcomed the graduates into the health professions and to the clinical teams that are trained to care for those who need assistance. The school has long produced in-demand graduates who are hired quickly upon completion of their respective programs.

Dr. Meyer’s key advice to the graduates was simple enough: “Become an expert at making lemonade out of the lemons that life puts in your path, because life is absolutely going to put lemons in your path.”

With friends and families of the Class of 2016 in attendance, he offered the new graduates a number of other tips on how to proceed. Dr. Meyer’s observations included:

  • Minds are like parachutes – They only function when they are open. “So try to do something that scares you just a little bit on a regular basis,” he said.
  • Don’t be reckless with other peoples’ hearts – and don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. “But also, do not be reckless with other peoples’ self-worth. It is fragile, just like your own.”
  • Be kind to others because there is a real shortage of kindness in the world.
  • Most importantly, “Be true to yourself. Ultimately that’s what gets any of us to a better place. Do not live in fear, because fear paralyzes us from making good decisions or enjoying the true blessings in our lives; Know that you will always find a path through the darkest places if you just stay true to yourself.”

Finally, Dr. Meyer told the graduates, “You are entering health care at a very turbulent time in our national politics, and a very complex time in the economics of how each of us as providers make our living. Regardless of what you hear, please rest assured that there is an ever-growing population of baby-boomers like me who will need your help. We will almost always be grateful for the care that you provide, both physical and emotional.”

The graduates of the School of Health Professions will move into fields such as Physical Therapy, Clinical Nutrition, Rehabilitation Counseling, Physician Assistant Studies, and Prosthetics-Orthotics. The school’s programs offer a doctorate in Physical Therapy and master’s degrees in the other disciplines.

“Graduating as a PA was kind of a dream for me,” said Kathy Chung, a Plano Senior High School and UT Austin product who brought about 25 members of her extended family to Commencement. “Having so many friends and family drove home what an accomplishment this is.”

Ms. Chung has since married – husband David Marquez is a civil engineer in Austin – and she’s looking for work there. Ms. Chung also served as Secretary of the graduating PA class.

Marshals for the event were Kassidy James, Assistant Professor of Physician Assistant Studies, and David Wilson, Instructor in Prosthetics-Orthotics.

 

Dr. Meyer holds the T.C. Lupton Family Professorship in Patient Care, in Honor of Dr. John Dowling McConnell and Dr. David Andrew Pistenmaa.

Dr. Podolsky holds the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery Jr., M.D., Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science.