The School of Medicine's 2009 graduating class breezed through its Commencement ceremony on May 14 in what may have been record time, less than two hours, and with speakers who sounded more like family than faculty or colleagues.

Keynote speaker Andy Josephson, assistant professor of neurology, reassured the graduates that every one of them would have a better first day of residency than he did. Rushing into what turned out to be a locked door, he bloodied his face and his scrubs, before hurrying back to his patient's room to find others had already tended to the emergency — and that was only the beginning. With his comical tale, Josephson got the graduates and guests laughing and into the spirit of the celebratory day.

Before awarding the degrees, Interim Dean Sam Hawgood encouraged the new doctors to recognize their power to create change. "You are graduating at a time when people seem more willing than ever to shake things up, to fix fundamental problems that have been swept under the rug for too many years," said Hawgood, citing access to health care among the problems he hoped the graduates help address. "I hope you have learned that … UCSF graduates are most successful when they challenge traditions and the status quo."