Congratulations Class of 2021

From the President

Robert A. Cain, DO 
President and CEO
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine

Graduating osteopathic medical students, you do not need me to tell you that this has been a difficult year, one full of challenges and sacrifice. Despite the demands that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on you and your classmates, you have moved forward. You have remained steadfast in your calling to care and to cure.

You have loudly answered that call. You have graduated.

And now, as members of the osteopathic medical profession, you will carry on the proud tradition of healing not only the body, but also the mind and the spirit.

Your dream is now realized. You are now a DO.

Let me extend not only my heartfelt congratulations, but also my deep appreciation, to you. The path of medicine is not easy. Even in the best of times, its demands are great. You have chosen a life in service of helping and healing others, a life that is as admirable as it is challenging. I urge you to celebrate the significant accomplishments you have achieved, the knowledge you’ve learned, the skills you’ve gained and the growth you’ve made, and to be confident in the good you’ll bring to your patients, your communities and us all.

Never lose your connection to your calling. Let it guide you through difficult days, let it inspire you to keep going and keep growing, let it nourish you, enrich you, and heal you so that you can heal your patients.

Your calling has led you here, to your graduation day, and will lead you to many more exciting new opportunities and a deeply meaningful future. In the words of White House physician Kevin O’Connor, DO, who graduated from NYCOM, now NYITCOM, in 1992, “Every single good door that opened for me was somehow related to me being a DO.”

Look out for the good doors opening for you and walk joyously through them all. You have my sincerest congratulations, Class of 2021. In a year like no other, you have achieved so much. Be proud.