UA Health Sciences’ Colleges Celebrate 2016 Graduates

Release Date: 
May 06, 2016

DATES/TIMES:         

MONDAY, MAY 9:

  • 3 p.m., UA College of Medicine – Phoenix Commencement: Doctors of Medicine

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11:

  • 6 p.m., UA College of Medicine - Tucson and Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs Biomedical Sciences Convocation

THURSDAY, MAY 12:

  • 2 p.m., UA College of Nursing Convocation
  • 7 p.m., UA College of Medicine – Tucson Convocation: Doctors of Medicine

FRIDAY, MAY 13:

  • 9 a.m., UA College of Pharmacy Convocation; 2 p.m., UA College of Medicine – Tucson Convocation (undergraduates): Department of Physiology, Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree with a major in physiology

SATURDAY, MAY 14:

  • 9 a.m., UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health Convocation (including students from the Phoenix campus)

Additional details on the UA Health Sciences convocation and commencement ceremonies are as follows:

MONDAY, MAY 9:

      3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Phoenix Symphony Hall, 75 N. Second St., Phoenix

Media contact: Marian Frank, 602-827-2022

The UA College of Medicine – Phoenix will host its sixth commencement ceremony to honor 66 graduating new physicians. Jeffrey M. Trent, PhD, president and research director for the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, will deliver the commencement speech. UA Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Andrew C. Comrie, PhD, will coffer the doctor of medicine degrees at the ceremony.

Of the 66 Class of 2016 graduates, one-third are pursuing primary-care fields, the most critical shortage facing Arizona, and 24 will be in residency programs in Phoenix or Tucson. Overall, the students will continue their studies at programs in 20 states. Graduating senior Aaron Klassen was chosen to give the student address by his fellow classmates. Klassen will begin his residency this summer with the Mayo School of Graduate Education in Rochester, Minn., in Emergency Medicine.

The College opened in 2007 to address the critical shortage of physicians in Arizona and has graduated 273 physicians. The College has steadily increased its graduating class. The UA College of Medicine – Phoenix enrollment beginning in July 2016 will include 332 students. The college has 96 on-campus faculty and 1,365 community faculty members.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11:

  •   UA College of Medicine and Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs Biomedical Sciences  Convocation

6 p.m. (reception follows at about 7:30 p.m. on the plaza outside of the hospital)

Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, DuVal Auditorium

1501 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson

Media contact: Rebecca Ruiz (McGill), 520-626-8434                                                               

This 11thannual ceremony honors 2015-2016 graduates who will receive doctoral and master’s degrees from graduate programs in the biological and biomedical sciences offered by the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs (GIDP).

Fifty-four students will receive a traditional “hooding” to mark the years of extraordinary effort and determination in pursuit of their graduate degrees.

Keynote speaker will be Parker Antin, PhD, associate dean of research at the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; professor of cellular and molecular medicine, professor at the UA BIO5 Institute and professor of molecular and cellular biology.

The graduate programs of the UA College of Medicine – Tucson Departments of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Immunobiology and Pharmacology will participate. UA College of Medicine – Tucson Dean Charles B. Cairns, MD, will congratulate these graduates.

There are 15 Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs at the University of Arizona. The GIDPs participating in this year’s convocation are Applied Biosciences, Arid Lands Resource Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Cancer Biology, Entomology and Insect Science, Genetics, Neuroscience, Physiological Sciences and Statistics. Dean Andrew Carnie, PhD, dean of the Graduate College and faculty director of the Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs, will congratulate the GIDP graduates.

The GIDPs transcend departmental boundaries by facilitating interdisciplinary research and education, allowing the fusion of ideas, techniques and expertise from the traditional academic fields that provide for the evolution of modern and imaginative methods of research and the creation of new fields of endeavor.

THURSDAY, MAY 12:

2 to 4 p.m.

Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.

UA Main Campus, Tucson

Media contact: Janelle Drumwright, 520-626-2742

During the convocation, graduates will receive baccalaureate, graduate and doctoral degrees in nursing, and faculty awards will be presented. The College will award 53 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees, 54 Master of Science in Nursing Clinical Systems Leadership degrees, one Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) degree and 19 Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degrees.

Established in 1957, the UA College of Nursing ranks among the top graduate nursing programs in the United States. The College is recognized for excellence in educating entry and advanced practice nurse leaders to deliver comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate health care; shape health policy for individuals, families, communities and care systems; and advance nursing science through innovative research, technology and collaboration.

7 to 9 p.m. (reception follows on the plaza in front of Centennial Hall)

Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.

New this year, guests must have a ticket to attend convocation. Tickets are free and can be picked up at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson Student Affairs Office, Room 2107, and will be available at the Centennial Hall Box Office prior to the event. The ceremony includes the procession of faculty and graduates into Centennial Hall; welcome remarks by Charles Cairns, MD, FACEP, FAHA, dean; greeting by Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, MD, UA senior vice president for health sciences; class speaker address; keynote address; hooding; recitation of the Hippocratic Oath; closing; recessional; and light reception.

This event also will be broadcast live and archived on the Internet at http://streaming.biocom.arizona.edu

Media contact: Rebecca Schultze, 520-621-0214

The UA College of Medicine – Tucson Class of 2016 includes 98 graduates: 54 women and 44 men. Four graduates will receive dual MD-MPH degrees (the five-year MD-MPH Program is offered jointly by the College and the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health). Nearly 34 percent of the graduates will pursue residencies in Arizona. Nearly 40 percent will go into primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics).

Keynote speaker is Mark Siegler, MD, the Lindy Bergman Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Chicago, founding director of the University of Chicago’s MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, and founding executive director of the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence.

Dean Cairns, who also is assistant vice president for clinical research and clinical trials at the UA Health Sciences, will lead the graduating students in reciting the Hippocratic Oath.

Inspiring 2016 UA College of Medicine – Tucson graduates: Charity Adusei, pediatrics, dual MD-MPH degree, and a 2011 UA undergraduate who was born and grew up in Ghana. She plans to work in global health and will do her residency at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Tim Tiutan, internal medicine, a 2012 UA undergraduate who moved from the Philippines to the United States when he was 8 years old. Upon completing his residency, he plans to focus his clinical practice on marginalized populations, including Hispanics and members of the LGBT community.

Their profiles are available on the UAHS Office of Public Affairs website, http://opa.ahsc.arizona.edu/newsroom/news/2016/match-day-2016

FRIDAY, MAY 13:

9 a.m. (reception follows at about 10:30 a.m. in the tent across from Centennial Hall)

Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.

UA Main Campus, Tucson

This event also will be broadcast live and archived on the Internet at http://streaming.biocom.arizona.edu

Media contact: Ginny Geib, 520-626-3389

Ninety-six PharmD and 12 PhD graduates of the College – currently rated as one of the top in the nation in America’s Best Graduate Schools compiled by U.S. News and World Report – will be hooded. A master’s degree student graduated earlier in the year, and two additional PharmD students will complete their degrees this summer.

2 to 4 p.m. (reception follows)

UA Student Union Memorial Center, Grand Ballroom, 1303 E. University Blvd.

UA Main Campus, Tucson

Media contact: Rebecca Ruiz McGill, 520-626-8434.

There are 283 graduating seniors who will receive the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree with a major in physiology. Various awards will be presented. Reception follows.

SATURDAY, MAY 14:

9 to 11 a.m. (reception for graduates, family and friends follows at the Women’s Plaza Walkway)

Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.

UA Main Campus, Tucson

Media contact: Gerri Kelly, 520-626-9669, cell phone 312-437-7007

The College will award 153 Bachelor of Science degrees with a major in public health; 91 Master of Public Health degrees of which, 10 students will receive dual MD-MPH degrees offered jointly by the UA Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix and Public Health. Other dual degrees to be awarded in Master of Public Health are as follows: One PharmD/MPH degree will be awarded, one JD/MPH will be awarded, one MPH/MA in Latin American Studies, and one MPH/MS in Mexican American Studies will be awarded. The College also will award eight Master of Science degrees in biostatistics, three Master of Science degrees in environmental health sciences, and two Master of Science degrees in epidemiology. One Doctor of Public Health degree will be awarded with a concentration in maternal and child health, and two PhDs will be awarded, one in biostatistics and one in environmental health sciences.

Graduates must RSVP their attendance and ticket are required. Contact Tanya Nemec for more information, 520-626-3200, tjnemec7@email.arizona.edu.

About the UA Health Sciences

The statewide leader in biomedical research and health professions training, the University of Arizona Health Sciences includes the UA Colleges of Medicine (Phoenix and Tucson), Nursing, Pharmacy and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research, patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA Health Sciences employs almost 5,000 people, has nearly 1,000 faculty members and garners more than $126 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: http://uahs.arizona.edu/