Commencement ceremonies for the University of Nevada School of Medicine Class of 2007 were held this afternoon at Lawlor Events Center in Reno. The 52 graduating students celebrated completion of their medical education by receiving their academic hoods and reciting the Hippocratic Oath, which reaffirms their commitment to the medical profession.

David Gremse, M.D., professor and chair of the Las Vegas pediatrics department, served as the ceremony keynote speaker and offered the newly minted physicians praise for their past academic accomplishments and words of encouragement for their future endeavors.

The Class of 2007 will have a short break before they begin their residency training programs across the country in July. This year's graduating class continued Nevada's tradition of placing in some of the nation's most competitive residency programs. The Class of 2007 matched with 36 different residency institutions across the nation and students will enter specialties ranging from Family Practice and Internal Medicine to Ophthalmology and Neurosurgery.

Nine graduates will stay in the state to enter into residency programs offered through the University of Nevada School of Medicine. More than one-fourth of this year's graduating class matched with residency programs not currently offered within the state. Students matching with some of the most competitive residency training programs include placements with the Mayo Clinic, Brigham & Women's Hospital in Massachusetts, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Duke University Medical Center, and the University of Virginia.

In addition to celebrating the graduation of the Class of 2007, the School of Medicine honored several faculty and community members who have supported the philosophy and goals of the medical school and have made significant contributions to the healthcare field in Nevada. Mark Hall, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Joseph Rojas, Sr., M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harrison Sheld, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Lynne Williams, public relations director, received their emeritus faculty status during the commencement ceremony. Peter Fenwick, M.D., who has served as a volunteer clinical assistant professor for the department of family medicine, was honored with the Thomas J. Scully Praeceptor Carissimus Award for his dedication to teaching. Assemblyman Morse Arberry, Jr., John Fildes, M.D., vice chair of the Department of Surgery, and David Westfall, Ph.D., College of Sciences Dean, were honored with the Dean's Distinguished Service Award for their contributions to healthcare in Nevada along with Deanna Wright Jensen who received the award posthumously for her commitment to breast cancer research advocacy. Mary Anderson, M.D., Washoe County's District Health Director, received the Dean's Outstanding Alumnus Award for her contribution to healthcare both in Nevada and nationally.

As the state's only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been meeting statewide healthcare, educational, and clinical needs since 1969. The School of Medicine encompasses 16 clinical medical education departments, including Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, as well as ten nationally-recognized departments within basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. As the largest multi-specialty healthcare focus within the state, the School of Medicine employs more than 185 doctors who both teach and practice medicine throughout Nevada. The school's statewide faculty physician practice group has a combined 25 different medical specialties with seven physician practice offices located in the Reno-Sparks area and five physician offices located in Las Vegas.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine utilizes a best-practice approach to medicine and is committed to addressing the health needs of Nevada now and in the future. For more information, please visit www.unr.edu/med.