Transition Celebration

The Transition Celebration is held at the end of the second year. It is an annual DMS tradition to commemorate the second year medical students' transition from the preclinical to the clinical years of medical school. There is a series of speakers including a Class Recognition and Alumni Congratulations by an invited member of our alumni family.

Excerpt from Dean Spielberg's remarks on
May 13, 2006 - Transition from Class
to Clinic


Dean Spielberg

The real transition that you face today ultimately, though, is that you are no longer just acquiring new knowledge—you now have to use that knowledge to make decisions. This is the hardest task for a physician—to make decisions while recognizing that your knowledge in general and of a given patient in particular is by definition always imperfect. You will have to act in a realm of "open ended intellectual situations", always wishing to know more, always hoping to contribute to new knowledge, but nonetheless acting on behalf of your patients today, right now.

Enter the realm of wisdom. It is both scary and exhilarating; it will take time and effort. It is here, too, that intellectual honesty is crucial, recognizing the limits of your knowledge, asking for help, finding the right interactive skills to work as part of a complex health team on behalf of your patients. Remember always that our job is to serve our patients—that focus will serve you well in dealing with the complex world of medicine that you have entered."


Oge Young, MD, DMS '75
OB-Gyn Clerkship Director, Concord, NH

DMS Alumni Council President Oge Young, MD, DMS '75 gives greetings and a wish of good luck to the Second Year Class members and their families and guests at their May Transition Ceremony.

O. Ross McIntyre, MD, DC '53/DMS '55 also addressed the class of 2008. The title of his talk was "Patience Sic."