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WSU President Irvin Reid congratulates graduates.
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This year’s commencement speaker urged medical school graduates to be something more than just physicians. He challenged them to be great doctors. He asked them to be nurturing, vulnerable, empathetic and compassionate. Peter Karmanos, Jr. acknowledged, “Before you stands a businessman, not a doctor. But I am a father to a son who lost sight in one eye due to a sports injury. I was a husband to my first wife, Barbara Ann, who lost her life to the most horrible disease of all – cancer. So, I understand the difference between a great doctor and just a physician.” In fact, Karmanos experienced the perks of a great physician first-hand earlier this year. While on vacation in Las Vegas, he required an emergency heart bypass. Much to his pleasure and surprise, his heart surgeon was a Wayne State graduate. He acknowledged that the nicest things the doctor did for him were to pay attention to what he said, to notice what he did not say, and to acknowledge his feelings and opinions as a patient.
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Dr. Mitchell celebrates with the Class of 2000.
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“A patient’s future is at least as important as his medical history,” said Karmanos. Peter Karmanos is chief executive officer and co-founder of Compuware Corporation, one of the world’s largest independent software vendors and professional service organizations, and Michigan’s sixth largest exporter. He has generously supported his community, most notably with his $26 million donation that established the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in honor of his late wife who died of cancer. The 243 graduates of the Wayne State University School of Medicine also enthusiastically supported the two recipients of this year’s Distinguished Service Awards: Drs. Samuel Brooks and Morris Goodman. As Wayne State University President Irvin Reid told the newly graduated physicians, “A profession that serves is a great one, indeed.”
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