After years of medical and scientific learning, Thursday, May 8, was a day the class of 2025 of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai had been waiting for: Commencement. Held at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, the ceremony served as a reminder for the graduating students that they had overcome great odds to receive their diplomas.
Many in this class started their education amid great challenges—the COVID-19 pandemic was still going on, noted Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine. And even after they graduate, there will be more challenges to face in residency and postdoctoral training, he said.
The Icahn School granted a total of 173 degrees at the 56th Commencement: 95 MD, 55 PhD, 13 MD/PhD, four MD/MPH, and six MD/MSCR.
“What matters is how you meet disappointment and failure—which is far more important than how you embrace success,” said Dr. Charney. “To thrive, personally and professionally, you will have to accept disappointment and failure, learn from it, and move forward.”
The graduates will also be entering a political climate that has cast uncertainty over scientific progress, said Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, who will become Interim Dean of the Icahn School when Dr. Charney steps down as Dean at the end of June.
“Disease knows no political party—it can strike anyone. As physicians and scientists, our allegiance is to humanity—to apply biomedical research to better understand disease so that we can end suffering, heal patients, and save lives,” said Dr. Nestler. “Science should not be politicized—not by the left, or by the right. Ever.”
The student speakers called upon their graduating class to draw courage as they step into a daunting future, but also to hold compassion for others and themselves.
“As we transition from students to doctors, let’s carry forward not just what we’ve learned, but how we’ve learned to think. The world doesn’t need more impressive credentials; it needs people who can navigate complexity with both intellectual rigor and humanity,” said graduating student Anina Lund, who represented the PhD class.
“And at the crossroads of patient care, we face a question: What kind of doctors will we be?” said graduating student Dorothy Adu-Amankwah, who represented the MD class. “The answer will look different for each of us. But at the core, I hope we choose to be doctors who embrace the gift of listening—because listening is the foundation of healing. And as we listen, may we also speak—and advocate—for those whose voices have been silenced by systems, by structures, and by history.”
In the slideshow below, we’ve gathered the stories of 10 graduating students on why they chose to enter the medical and research profession, and how their time at the Icahn School has shaped them.