2025 Spring hooding ceremony celebrates Ohio State’s medical students

On Thursday, May 1, close to 200 graduating medical students gathered at The Ohio State University Mershon Auditorium for The Ohio State University College of Medicine's 2025 Doctoral Convocation, also known as the Hooding Ceremony. The placement of the doctoral hood recognizes students completing their medical degrees and welcomes them into the profession of medicine.

The ceremony also acknowledges the many outstanding achievements of the graduating class, which this year is quite unique — they came to Ohio State from 77 universities where they earned 29 different majors. And they speak 32 languages. Together, they have a wide range of experiences, critical thinking skills and academic excellence. Working with our innovative faculty in our state-of-the-art facilities, they transformed their gained knowledge of foundational science into extraordinary patient-centered, compassionate care.

During the ceremony, Carol R. Bradford, MD, MS, FACS, dean at the Ohio State College of Medicine gave remarks, acknowledging the momentous day as being the culmination of years of education and training and the day the students officially become doctors.

“Remember that medicine is a calling, and in your practice, you will provide extraordinary patient-centered, compassionate care,” Dr. Bradford said. “Embrace each day with hope and gratitude and know that you are innovating care and making a difference.”

Dr. Bradford shared a few other notable accomplishments from the class of 2025: during their time at the college, 17 learners earned dual degrees with nine PhDs, seven master’s in public health and one MBA. These students pursued rigorous training during their medical education and will go on to shape the future of medicine as physician scientists, population health experts, policy advisors and leaders.

Claire N. Sevov, MD, clinical assistant professor of Internal Medicine at the College of Medicine, received the highly coveted 2025 Professor the Year Award and then delivered the Convocation Address. She pointed everyone's attention to the fact that the graduates would no longer be focusing on grades and testing as they entered the practice of medicine but just the patients in front of them. And she shared some advice she wished she'd heard at her graduation.  

"The practice of medicine includes always seeking to improve,” Dr. Sevov says. “Listening to feedback and applying it is how you’re going to turn into the clinician you want to be.”

Thirty-seven learners were inducted into the national medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and 28 were inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which is a community of medical students, physicians and other leaders who have been recognized for their compassionate care. Fifty-two learners were inducted into the Landacre Honor Society, which was founded at the university in 1956, and recognizes medical students’ academic achievement and research activities. In addition, Nathalie Sackey was honored through a Military Promotion Ceremony which pinned her into her new rank in the United States Air Force.

Following recitation of the class oath, graduating students lined up to be adorned in hoods. The new graduates recited and Oath of Hippocrates and joined into the performance of Ohio State’s “Carmen Ohio” performed by the Ultrasound Medical Student Chorus. A few students shared what the momentous day meant for them after the rigorous journey to reach their life-long dreams of becoming physicians.

Ada Sher, MD and her husband Steven Sher, MD, will soon head to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to begin their residencies in Otolaryngology and Internal Medicine. They both feel like the early clinical exposure they got during medical school made an enormous difference in how prepared they are to begin practicing medicine.

“I feel like they undersold how ready you’d be,” Dr. Sher said. “I don’t feel like any other place would prepare you as well as Ohio State prepared us.”

The mark of the learner’s successes and milestones concluded with an outside reception with faculty, leaders, staff, family and friends.

Awards Conveyed on Stage:

• Dean’s award – Kenneth Clark, Jr.
• Academic Excellence Award – John Barba II
• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Watman Achievement Award – Abigail Buckley
• William J. Means Memorial Award – Vikas Munjal
• Clinical Excellence Award – Leah O’Toole
• Leadership Award – Carson Isola Rogge
• Catherine R. Lucey, MD Ambassador Award for Professionalism – Safa Salem
• Gossman Service Award – Alejandro Andres de la Cova
• Medical Scientist Award – Volha A. Golubeva, PhD
• The Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award – Brianna VanNoy
• Outstanding House Staff Teaching Awards: Zachary Braunstein, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Jordan P. Hochstetler, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Lydia M. Karlsson, MD, Department of Family Medicine

Preceding the Hooding Ceremony, the Ohio State College of Medicine held its Honors Celebration to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of the following:

• Christopher Ayoub, PhD, Sydney Fobare, PhD, Volha A. Golubeva, PhD, Daniela Jimenex-Harrison, PhD, Matthew Robert Lordo, PhD, Megan Giannina Pino, PhD, Steven Andrew Sher, PhD, Zheng Hong Tan, PhD, Wesley Wang, PhD, graduates of the MD/PhD Medical Scientist Program
• John Carol Barba II, MPH Excellence in Public Health Award from the U.S. Public Health Service Physicians Professional Advisory Committee
• Shuchi Sharma, Daniel Howland Prize
• Pablo J. Sanchez, MD, professor of Pediatrics and Director of Clinical and Translational Research in Neonatology, Nationwide Children’s Hospital for the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation
• Chloe Harriet Amsterdam, Kayley Grace Irwin, Matthew Robert Lordo, Megan Giannina Pino, Carson Elizabeth Isola Rogge for the Linda C. Stone, MD Program Humanism and the Arts in Medicine Senior Recognition Awards
• Those receiving Honorable Mention: Emily Eileen Coffey-Noriega, Dania Dallal, Alina Haque, Kara Marie Klinkebiel and Safa Salem
• Cassandra Lynn Pasadyn was awarded Advanced Management in Relationship-Centered Care Student of the Year
• Lily Anne Kreber was awarded Advanced Management in Hospital-Based Care Student of the Year

In addition to these accolades, the College of Medicine's clinical departments granted a total of 58 awards to the Class of 2025. They stand alongside the 731 additional College of Medicine learners who will be honored at Commencement this Sunday, including 24 undergraduate and 60 graduate learners, as well as 647 learners at all degree levels from the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. This is no doubt an exciting time for all our graduates but especially for HRS, which is celebrating its largest class ever!