Katleen Lozada, MD, one of the first Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai students to sign up for early graduation.
Seventy-seven Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai students earned their medical degrees early on Wednesday, April 15, at a time when Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are experiencing extraordinary and unprecedented demands brought on by the COVID-19 public health crisis. Among them are 19 graduates who matched at Mount Sinai for residency and volunteered to join the Mount Sinai Medical Corps, helping to relieve a strained medical system while answering the call by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo for “all hands on deck” to assist in any way.
On that day, a number of the early graduates participated in an informal ceremony—from the safety of their homes and conducted on Zoom—reciting the modern Hippocratic Oath and marking this milestone with faculty, staff, and friends and family, all in virtual attendance. Led by Staci Leisman, MD, FASN, Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), and Medical Education, each graduate made a commitment to “respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk,” to “respect the privacy of my patients,” to “tread with care in matters of life and death,” and to “prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to a cure.”
Staci Leisman, MD, FASN, Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), and Medical Education, led students and faculty in reciting the modern Hippocratic Oath during a virtual ceremony.
The opportunity to graduate from the Icahn School of Medicine a month early—as well as the decision to begin clinical work in the Health System through the Mount Sinai Medical Corps—was strictly voluntary. The Medical Corps is a newly formed training program that gives these newest MDs an opportunity to provide vitally needed support services to an overburdened staff—entering orders, for example, scribing, relaying updates to patient families, and facilitating discharge planning. Also joining Mount Sinai graduates in these efforts are 12 graduates from other medical schools who have matched at Mount Sinai for residency.
“We are extremely proud of the dedication and altruism of our students and their passion for helping our patients and communities at this historic time,” said David Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education, and Professor and Marietta and Charles C. Morchand Chair in Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Katleen Lozada was one of the first Icahn School of Medicine students to sign up for early graduation. “This is definitely not how I envisioned my graduation, but I just really want to help alleviate the intense pressure on clinical staff working on the front lines. What lies ahead is somewhat unknown, but most of all I am looking forward to helping in whatever capacity is needed,” said Dr. Lozada, who matched in the Emergency Medicine residency. The program has training sites at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Beth Israel—and at Elmhurst Hospital, which is part of a New York City integrated system of health care facilities that has been particularly hard-hit with COVID-19 cases.
“I would much rather be working and helping during this crisis than sitting at home and watching other able-bodied medical professionals take the brunt of the disaster,” added Dr. Lozada, whose mother is a pediatrician.
Olamide Omidele, MD
Also among the early graduates was Olamide Omidele—now Olamide Omidele, MD—a native of Nigeria who was matched to Mount Sinai as a urology resident. “The health care system is currently strained, and I am hoping that I can provide relief in whatever way is needed,” said Dr. Omidele. “I draw my strength, optimism, and comfort about joining the workforce from my parents, who are the main reason I chose to go into medicine.”
For Dr. Lozada, who is a first-generation New Yorker raised in the Bronx, the opportunity to assist the city she loves was also a motivating factor. “What’s even more exciting is that I’ll have the honor of serving the New York City community I grew up with and am awed by every day,” she said. “I can’t wait to get started!”
Students, faculty, staff, family, and friends participated in the virtual ceremony.