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Events | News and Announcements
Former Heritage College Dean Barbara Ross-Lee calls on graduates to meet the challenges of modern medicine
The 窪蹋勛圖 Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine honored the resilience and promise of its graduating students at the annual Inclusion Celebration, held May 9, at Heritage Hall in Athens. Sponsored by the Student National Medical Association, the event paid tribute to students who have overcome significant barriers to earn their medical degrees and spotlighted the potential for graduates to use their life experiences and skills to make a positive impact on health care.
The ceremony featured remarks from faculty, students and a pioneering leader in osteopathic medicine, Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O. She became the first Black woman to serve as dean of a U.S. medical school when she joined the 窪蹋勛圖 Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1993. During her keynote address, Ross-Lee, a longtime champion for health equity and access, called upon the graduates to meet the challenges of modern medicine with wisdom, pride and vision.
Becoming a physician is not just a career choice, it is a high calling with awesome responsibilities, Ross-Lee said. From this day forward, it is an immutable part of who you are and who you will always belike your race, ethnicity or gender好o other profession is so honored.
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Ross-Lees message was framed by what she called the Four Bes: Be Good, Be Wise, Be Proud, and Be Visionaryeach reflecting a deep call to action for future osteopathic physicians to confront challenges related to access, cost and quality in health care and to lead the profession with both skill and compassion.
Former Heritage College Chief Inclusion Officer Tanisha King, Ph.D., emphasized the importance of honoring one's background while committing to the highest standards of patient care.
As a first-generation or underrepresented physician, it is imperative that you keep these teachings with you, King said. Your patients deserve a physician that will treat them in the way in which the oath you take states: with dignity and respect.
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A highlight of the celebration came from the words of Class of 2025 graduate Shamone Gore Panter, D.O., who shared her deeply personal journey from hardship to healing, underscoring the strength that comes from lived experience.
If someone had told the 7-year-old girl living in a Massachusetts motel room on New Years Eve in 1986 that she would one day stand before a room full of graduating doctorsmany who look like her, come from where she came from, and carry the same generational weightshe wouldnt have believed it, Gore Panter said. But that girl was me.
In her address, she recounted a life shaped by trauma, perseverance and ultimately, purpose. Her words celebrated not only her journey, but those of her fellow graduates.
Our presence in these white coats didnt come easily. For many of us, it came with scars夷n all of it, I came to understand that my pain didnt disqualify me from medicineit prepared me for it, she said. Because some of us dont just learn medicine from textbookswe live it. We know what its like to be misdiagnosed, dismissed or made to feel invisible. And thats why we will change this system. I didnt choose medicine because it was easy. I chose it because Ive seen what happens when people like us dont have a seat at the table. I chose family medicineand osteopathic medicine specificallybecause D.O.s dont just treat symptoms. We treat people. We see bodies, yesbut we also see stories.
She concluded with a call to reshape the future of health care by bringing humanity back into the profession.
We are not statistics. We are not exceptions. We are the long-overdue correction to a system that has failed too many for too long安eve walked through fire to get hereand fire didnt destroy us. It refined us安e are the future of medicine. We are the bridge between science and soul. We are what healing looks like when it grows from struggle.
The Inclusion Celebration recognized the achievements of students overcoming obstacles but also reaffirmed the colleges commitment to train the next generation of osteopathic physicians.
As Ross-Lee concluded, You hold the future in your hands.
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Published
June 25, 2025