Newswise — Baltimore, Maryland -- University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, will deliver the keynote address for this year’s graduating class. The UMSOM graduation ceremony will take place at the Hippodrome Theatre on Thursday, May 19, 2022. Doors open at 12:00 pm, the procession begins at 1:30 pm, and the ceremony begins at 2:00 pm.
Dr. Murthy is the U.S. Surgeon General and the Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service’s Commissioned Corps. As the Nation’s Doctor, his mission is to restore trust by relying on the best scientific information available, providing clear, consistent guidance and resources for the public, and ensuring that the country's most vulnerable communities are reached. As Vice Admiral, he commands a uniformed service of 6,000 public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations in over 800 locations domestically and abroad. Dr. Murthy has worked to shield the nation from Ebola and Zika and to respond to the Flint water crisis, major hurricanes, and frequent health care deficiencies in rural communities.
“We are privileged to have our nation’s leading public health advisor, Dr. Murthy, speak to this year’s graduating class. Serving under the current Joe Biden administration, he tackles the nation’s most pressing public health challenges,” said Dean Reece, who is Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland, and John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “His service to our country and deep commitment to addressing global public health crises serve as a tremendous inspiration to our next generation of physician-scientists”.
As the nation’s 21st Surgeon General and the first of Indian descent, Dr. Murthy addresses many critical public health issues, including the growing proliferation of health misinformation, the ongoing youth mental health crisis, well-being and burnout in the health worker community, and social isolation and loneliness. Additionally, he serves as a key advisor to President Biden's COVID-19 pandemic response operation. Previously, Dr. Murthy served as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States from December 15, 2014 to April 21, 2017.
Prior to entering government service, Dr. Murthy co-founded Visions, a global HIV/AIDS education program in India and the United States; the Swasthya Project, a rural health partnership that trained South Indian women to become community health workers and educators; TrialNetworks, a technology company dedicated to improving collaboration and efficiency in clinical trials; and Doctors for America, a nonprofit mobilizing physicians and medical students to improve access to affordable care. His scientific research has focused on vaccine development and the participation of women and minorities in clinical studies. And as an internal medicine doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital and at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Murthy cared for thousands of patients and trained hundreds of medical students and residents.
Dr. Murthy earned his BA Degree from Harvard and his MD Degree from the Yale School of Medicine. He also received an MBA Degree from the Yale School of Management. He completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and later joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Murthy is a New York Times bestselling author for his 2020 publication titled, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. He is regarded as one of the nation’s most trusted voices on public health matters and resides in Washington, DC with his wife, Dr. Alice Chen, and their two children.
About the University of Maryland School of Medicine
Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 46 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs, and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1.3 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic, and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has nearly $600 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 students, trainees, residents, and fellows. The combined School of Medicine and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of over $6 billion and an economic impact of nearly $20 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity (according to the Association of American Medical Colleges profile) is an innovator in translational medicine, with 606 active patents and 52 start-up companies. In the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Medical Schools, published in 2021, the UM School of Medicine is ranked #9 among the 92 public medical schools in the U.S., and in the top 15 percent (#27) of all 192 public and private U.S. medical schools. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu.
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