Media Advisory: UB medical students to graduate today in virtual ceremony

BUFFALO, N.Y. — One hundred and forty-seven new physicians will graduate today from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo in a virtual ceremony instead of on campus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Media are invited to observe the ceremony via a link that will be provided online just prior to the 1:30 p.m. program at https://www.buffalo.edu/commencement/ceremonies-virtual/degree-conferral-ceremonies/jacobs-smbs/smbs-mds.html

The Jacobs School ceremony will be the first of 15 virtual commencement exercises to take place this month. The university remains optimistic it also will be able to recognize graduates during on-campus commencement at a later date.

WHAT: Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences MD program virtual commencement

WHEN: 1:30 p.m. on May 1, 2020

WHO: The ceremony will be presided over by Michael E. Cain, MD, vice president for health sciences at UB and dean of the Jacobs School.

Cain noted the unusual circumstances of this year’s graduation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing out that the graduating class is an integral part of the UB medical school community, which itself is serving a critical role in the response to the pandemic in Western New York and elsewhere.

Thirty-six Jacobs School graduates, nearly a quarter of the class, will continue their training in medical residencies at UB in Western New York hospitals while working on the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19;  23 graduates will head downstate to begin working in New York City and Long Island.

The experience this year’s graduating MDs have had with the COVID-19 pandemic uniquely positions them to enter the medical field at such an unprecedented time, Cain will tell graduates in a video message that will be shown during commencement.