HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Nearly 70 new physicians and researchers were awarded degrees from the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine during the school’s 42nd annual graduation and investiture ceremony, held 4 p.m. Friday, April 29, at the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center in Huntington.

Marshall University President Brad D. Smith conferred 65 Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degrees, two Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in biomedical research and two combined Doctor of Medicine-Doctor of Philosophy (M.D./Ph.D.) degrees. Of the M.D. graduates, 10 are part of the inaugural B.S./M.D. cohort. The program, launched in 2015, allows high-performing West Virginia high school students to finish both their Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees in seven years and provides a full tuition waiver for the medical school portion of their curriculum. 

Every member of the graduating M.D. class matched to residency training programs, including matches to Duke University, Louisiana State University, The Ohio State University, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Wake Forest University. Of the Ph.D. graduates, one starts a tenure-track faculty position at Saint Augustine’s University and the other will be attending medical school at Marshall University.

Noted pathologist and 1992 alumnus of the School of Medicine, Gary W. Procop, M.D., M.S., who serves as chief executive officer of the American Board of Pathology, delivered the keynote address to the Class of 2022. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Procop served as the endowed chair of clinical microbiology and medical director of virology at Cleveland Clinic, where he assembled a dynamic interdisciplinary team that allowed Cleveland Clinic to become the first hospital in Ohio to offer COVID-19 testing.

The ceremony also included recognition of Peter A. Chirico, M.D., as the School of Medicine Alumni Association 2022 honorary alumnus. Chirico, professor and chair of radiology at the School of Medicine, has mentored more than 150 radiology graduates during his 30-year tenure at Marshall University and Radiology, Inc.

John R. Castillo, president of the class of 2022, delivered remarks, and Sydney C. Sheppard was selected by her classmates to lead the recitation of the Oath of Hippocrates. The event was streamed live and is available for viewing at www.facebook.com/MUSOMWV and www.marshall.edu/livestream.

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Media Contact: Sheanna M. Spence, Director of External Affairs, School of Medicine, 304-691-1639

Date Posted: Friday, April 29, 2022