Boonshoft School of Medicine to celebrate 40th anniversary throughout 2020

The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine will celebrate 40 years of leadership in community-based medical education throughout 2020.

The yearlong celebration includes many events and a special all-class reunion on May 15–17. Reunion 2020 will feature a Back to School session for medical school alumni and current and former medical school faculty. There also will be dinner, dancing, beer and wine tasting and a special recognition of the medical school’s first class that graduated in 1980. Reunion 2020 concludes with the medical school’s graduation on May 17.

Other significant 40th anniversary events include the Welcome to Education, Life and Leisure (WELL) Weekend in Napa Valley, California, on March 5–8. Hosted at the Meritage Resort and Spa, the weekend will blend relaxed elegance with warm hospitality to bring alumni and guests the ultimate Napa Valley resort experience. It includes cooking demonstrations, winery tours and a special presentation on Medicine: past, present and future.

Match Day will take place on March 20 in the Wright State Student Union. A longstanding tradition at medical schools nationwide, Match Day is a highly anticipated event. It is the day that medical students learn where they are heading as new doctors to receive advanced clinical training in a residency program.

The Medical-Spirituality Conference will be held on April 16 at Sinclair Conference Center. The conference will include speakers and group discussions that explore the challenging topic of suicide. Proceeds from the conference support the Healer’s Art Fund at the Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine.

From April 17–18, the medical school’s Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness (RISHI) will host the National RISHI Clinician and Student Well-Being Retreat. The workshop is one of many provided throughout the country by the institute to foster and enhance resilience among health care professionals.

The medical school’s 40th anniversary will also be celebrated at the Wright State University Academy of Medicine dinner, held in April, to raise funds that support low-interest loans for Wright State medical students. The academy’s members have helped to greatly reduce the debt burden to medical students since the Academy of Medicine was founded in 1977.

There will be special receptions covering many medical specialties. A reception for dermatology alumni and friends will be held in Denver on March 20. Another reception, for psychiatry alumni, will be held in Philadelphia on April 25. A family medicine reception will be held in Chicago on Oct. 13. Emergency medicine alumni will have the opportunity to attend a reception in Dallas on Oct. 26, and surgery medicine alumni can attend a special reception in Chicago on Oct. 4.

The Convocation and White Coat Ceremony to welcome incoming medical students will be held July 12. The ceremony marks the formal beginning of their medical education at Wright State. Surrounded by family and friends in the Schuster Center, new students receive the symbol of their chosen profession, the white coat, and take their first oath of professional medical ethics.

In the fall, the Anatomical Gift Program at the Boonshoft School of Medicine will hold its Annual Ceremony of Appreciation. The ceremony welcomes family members and friends to honor and remember their loved ones, whose donations are supporting scientific discovery. Invitations are mailed to family members each August.

The Boonshoft School of Medicine Office of Research Affairs will present the Central Research Forum on Oct. 22 to showcase biomedical, clinical, medical education and public health research conducted by students at Wright State. The program will be held in the Student Union and includes speakers and a poster session.

On Dec. 1, the Boonshoft School of Medicine will help celebrate Giving Tuesday. The day of charitable giving is celebrated annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. By making donations during #GivingTuesday, alumni and friends of the medical school support students and the future of medicine.

Throughout the year, there will be several thank-you events for Boonshoft School of Medicine volunteer faculty members. These celebrations of gratitude honor physicians around the region, near both campuses of Wright State, who freely give their time and energy to help educate Wright State medical students.