Oakland University William Beaumont medical school's charter class to graduate on May 15

The future looks bright for the 47 students who will cross the stage during Oakland University William Beaumont (OUWB) School of Medicine’s first-ever commencement ceremony, which takes place at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 15, in the Oakland University athletic O’rena. OUWB leaders, public officials, distinguished visitors, and families and friends will be on hand as graduates mark an important milestone in their personal and professional lives.

Members of OUWB’s charter class were selected from more than 3,200 applicants nationwide when the school opened in 2011 as Michigan’s first new M.D.-granting allopathic medical school in nearly 50 years. Guided by Founding Dean Robert Folberg, the school gained full accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. OUWB was designed to transform medical education by emphasizing holistic physician development – a “liberal arts medical education” that is grounded in evidence-based medical science.

“Our graduates have excelled academically and are engaged with their communities,” Dr. Folberg said. “They are also physicians who are compassionate, who listen with focused intensity, and who communicate clearly with elevated cultural awareness.”

During the ceremony, John E. Prescott, M.D., chief academic officer of the Association of American Medical College, will present the commencement address and AIDS activist Mary Fisher will receive an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Commencement comes just weeks after the OUWB celebrated its first Match Day, when students found out where they will train in their residency programs. Students were placed to residencies in more than a dozen specialty areas at health systems in Michigan and in some of the most prestigious institutions throughout the country. Medical school partner Beaumont Health accepted 14 OUWB students as residents.

The first OUWB graduation is a historical milestone on the Oakland University campus. President George W. Hynd added, “As Oakland University president, it will be my honor to participate in the inaugural commencement ceremonies for OUWB. These students put their trust in our educators and, proudly, we delivered on our promise to prepare them for a bright future as empathetic physicians who are driven toward serving the community.”

For more information about OUWB please visit oakland.edu/medicine.


About Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
The Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine is a collaborative, diverse, inclusive, and technologically advanced learning community, dedicated to enabling students to become skillful, ethical, and compassionate physicians, inquisitive scientists who are invested in the scholarship of discovery, and dynamic and effective medical educators.

About Beaumont Health
Beaumont Health is a not-for-profit organization formed by Beaumont Health System, Botsford Health Care and Oakwood Healthcare to provide high quality, efficient, accessible services in a caring environment for Southeastern Michigan residents and beyond. It consists of eight hospitals with 3,337 beds, 153 outpatient sites, 5,000 physicians, more than 33,000 employees and about 3,500 volunteers. In 2013, the combined organizations had 168,047 inpatient admissions, 15,997 births and 492,677 emergency visits. For more information, visit beaumonthealth.org.