Dr. Victor J. Dzau, President of the National Academy of Medicine, was an honored guest at three commencement ceremonies this month, delivering addresses at the Emory University School of Medicine and the Texas A&M University School of Engineering Medicine. Dzau received honorary degrees from Emory and Tulane University.
On May 10, Dzau delivered the keynote address at the Emory University School of Medicine MD Diploma Ceremony and received an honorary degree from the university, celebrating his contributions in medical innovation and championing of health equity. Tulane University also recognized Dzau’s achievements with an honorary degree at the university’s commencement exercises.
Dzau speaks at Emory University.
During his address at Emory, Dzau described how challenges can lead to success and discussed the transformative role physicians have in the communities they serve. “Society grants practitioners trust and respect, but this is predicated on the understanding that we draw upon our expertise to address the needs of our patients and our communities. This is the social contract that medicine is built on,” Dzau said. “As practitioners, if we forget that people and communities are at the heart of our work, we will not be doing our jobs.”
Dzau also delivered the address at the commencement ceremony at the Texas A&M School of Engineering Medicine where he spoke about how uniting medicine and engineering allows for the development of innovations that can improve health and the critical need to attend to equity to ensure these innovations are accessible to all.
Earlier this month, the McGill School of Population and Global Health held the 2024 Victor Dzau and Ruth Cooper-Dzau Distinguished Lecture in Global and Population Health featuring the Hon. Dr. Jane Philpott, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Director of the School of Medicine at Queen’s University.
