Postbac Premed Class Day Celebrates 2015 Graduates

Dean Peter J. Awn welcomed the graduates and introduced the Class Day keynote speaker, Dr. George F. Heinrich, MD, calling him a “staunch supporter” of the Postbac Premed Program. Dr. Heinrich is the Associate Dean for Admissions at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where he also holds the title of Adjunct Professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine and Community Health.

“Columbia’s Postbac Program is not just the oldest, but also the best,” he said.

Through his career at Rutgers, Heinrich has worked closely with graduates of the Columbia Postbac Premed Program and admires them for their “ability to channel life in a new direction.” He also spoke about how a doctor’s first responsibility is to his or her patients. Because physicians have the ability to “change the lives of others,” he advised that doctors always strive to be better by asking questions and challenging themselves to become better doctors: “Have I done the best I can? How can I do better?”

Heinrich joined the Columbia faculty in congratulating the graduates as each was presented by Andrew Sunshine, Postbac Premed Program director.

Following the presentation of graduates, the student address was delivered by Reuben J. Heyman-Kantor whose Emmy-award winning career in journalism with 60 Minutes led him to the Postbac Program. Heyman-Kantor spoke about how his experience as a journalist inspired him to change his career course to becoming a doctor, a feeling that began when he contributed to a report on the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. It was from combing through footage from the disaster zone and seeing the suffering of others in need that he realized it would be “more meaningful to be the doctor than the journalist telling the story.”

In closing remarks, Victoria Rosner, senior Postbac Premed Program associate dean, asked the audience to reflect on what graduates had achieved during their time at the Program, pointing out that many had not studied the sciences in years. She spoke about the benefits of their varied experiences and how the combination of the arts and sciences can bring more compassion to health care. “The finest practitioners of science are artists as well,” she said.

Having successfully completed the program, graduates will take several different paths to realizing their futures in medicine. Some will complete their glide year before entering medical school, while others will begin medical school in the fall at one of the 14 medical schools with which Columbia maintains a linkage agreement. Whatever the next step, Rosner hoped that the “pride and a sense of accomplishment that you feel today will buoy you up.”