School of Medicine Class of 2026: Changemakers Ready to Reimagine Care

Saturday, May 16, kicked off commencement season for the UC Irvine School of Medicine, with Dean Michael J. Stamos, MD, welcoming the MD class of 2026 — and their biggest supporters — to the Bren Events Center.

This was the first of three graduation ceremonies for the School of Medicine, which each year honors the achievements of close to 150 MD, PhD, MD/PhD and MS program graduates and celebrates around 250 residents and fellows. On June 15, the graduating master’s students will participate in the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences commencement, and doctoral students will participate in the Graduate Hooding Ceremony.

“We have had an incredible year, and your presence and your achievements as part of the medical school family have contributed to our success,” Dean Stamos said to the crowd of graduating MD students. He then touted many of the year’s accomplishments, including obtaining $377 million in funding for research; receiving full accreditation for the next eight years — the longest possible term; and opening the nation’s first all-electric hospital, UCI Health – Irvine.

Stamos further noted that 79% of the MD graduates are staying in California for their residency, with 43% staying within the UC system and 22% remaining anteaters at UC Irvine.

“As your class prepares for its collective future,” Stamos said, “your ongoing commitment will change the world for the better.”

Chancellor Howard Gillman started his welcome with a noteworthy pop culture accolade.

“We gather to celebrate the UC Irvine School of Medicine class of 2026,” he said, “with medical students so accomplished, so renowned, that the hit television show ‘The Pitt’ had to get in on the action and include a character from this wonderful place!”

Gillman went on to hail the students and the magnitude of their accomplishment. “You enriched us immeasurably, and we are grateful for having had the honor to have you as our students.”

Anteater DNA: Engineering Innovation

Bruce Tromberg, PhD, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), advised students during his keynote address to tap into their "anteater DNA.”

Before joining the NIH in January 2019, Tromberg spent 30 years at UC Irvine as a professor of biomedical engineering and surgery. He served as director of UCI’s Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic and co-founded the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

“UCI is unique not only in the academic excellence of engineering and medicine but in the vision of Henry and Susan Samueli, who support the UCI School of Engineering and the College of Health Sciences,” said Tromberg. “In other words, engineering and medicine are part of UCI’s DNA.”

He explained to the students how, as physicians, they’re uniquely positioned to invent tomorrow’s healthcare solutions. He imagined a future with at-home medical appliances, like a coffee maker with different pods for detecting infectious diseases. He pondered whether advances in quantum technologies could make getting a brain MRI feel like sitting in a hair-dryer chair at the salon.

“What new tools will emerge over the next decade that you will embrace — or perhaps avoid because of the often complicated moral and ethical dilemmas that they pose?” he asked.

He recalled joining UC Irvine in 1988 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Beckman Laser Institute, when lasers were large, power-hungry machines.

“Thanks to the pioneering work of UCI medicine and engineering professors, they are now routinely used in LASIK eye surgery,” he said.

He also talked about his role leading the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics technology initiative, which increased U.S. COVID-19 testing capacity by nearly 8 billion tests between 2020 and 2023. “Our test scaleup is estimated to have saved approximately 1.4 million lives and averted 7 million hospitalizations in the United States,” he said.

Quoting science fiction writer William Gibson, he told the crowd, “The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed.”

“Your mission [is] to make sure these increasingly powerful tools are fairly, evenly and thoughtfully distributed,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to tap into your special anteater DNA [as] you turn healthcare obstacles into opportunities!”

A Class of Changemakers

“Good afternoon, doctors!” Student cheered following this warm greeting from senior class presidents Darian Thompson and Mieraf Teka.

“It feels like only yesterday we were meeting one another for the first time [yet] somehow we’re here graduating medical school,” said Teka. She went on to acknowledge the class of 2026’s reputation as “complainers.”

“Many of our comments were rooted in genuine efforts to promote equity and well-being for classmates, patients and communities,” she explained. “We hope that you will all continue to embody the change-making spirit that gave us this reputation … ask difficult questions, challenge the status quo, advance equity and reimagine a world centered on care.”

Thompson addressed the reality of graduating during a time often called “unprecedented.”

“It can feel overwhelming to step into this profession at such a moment, but we also believe there’s something profoundly hopeful about dedicating your life to medicine when healing is desperately needed,” Thompson said. “Even though we cannot solve every injustice directly, we can still defend dignity, alleviate suffering, and care for the person in front of us, all while building and advocating for a more just world.”

Thompson also expressed gratitude to loved ones for their support.

“Your sacrifices and care are woven into this accomplishment just as much as our own,” he said. “In repayment, we promise to check every scary-looking mole and consult on any ‘my doctor told me’ questions you have!”

Teka then talked about all they accomplished, including outside of medical school.

“We fell in love, got married, had children, bought homes, and traveled the world,” she said. “Wherever residency takes us, our class will continue to lead with compassion.”

Teka and Thompson leaned in together to make the final announcement in unison: “Congratulations, class of 2026! We did it!”

Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin, MD, MEd, the vice dean of medical education, then came to the podium to administer the oath for doctors of medicine, and Chancellor Gillman conferred the degrees.

“Graduates, are you getting used to people calling you doctor?” Gillman asked. “We should make it official … congratulations! You have just graduated from medical school.”

View additional commencement photos online.

— Shani Murray