CWRU School of Medicine celebrates historic commencement
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine marked a milestone weekend in May, celebrating the accomplishments of graduates across its Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Master of Science in Anesthesia (MSA) programs with ceremonies that reflected both tradition—particularly during the university’s bicentennial—and forward momentum in medical education.
On Sunday, May 17, the School of Medicine conferred degrees upon 229 new physicians during its commencement ceremony at Severance Music Center, the largest graduating class in the school’s history.
The class represented the full breadth of the School of Medicine’s educational pathways. Among the graduates were 182 students from the University Track program, 33 from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, 14 from the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and four who earned both an MD degree and a certificate in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
This year’s MSTP graduates carried special historical significance: Case Western Reserve University was the first medical school in the U.S. to offer a combined MD-PhD degree in 1956, making this the program’s 70th anniversary year.
The keynote address was delivered by alum Michael Yaffe, MD, PhD (GRS ’87, pharmacology; MED ’89), who offered graduates reflections on purpose and the responsibility that comes with entering the medical profession.
Earlier in the week, on Friday, May 15, the School of Medicine celebrated the graduation of its MSA students at Amasa Stone Chapel. The ceremony honored 84 graduates representing all four campus sites: 30 from Cleveland, 22 from Austin, 19 from Washington, D.C. and 13 from Houston.
Founded in 1969, the MSA program is one of only two legacy anesthesia programs in the country, underscoring its longstanding leadership in anesthesia education.
Together, the 2026 commencement ceremonies celebrated not only academic achievement, but also the enduring mission of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine: to improve health globally by linking groundbreaking innovation and research directly to patients and populations within a world-class medical and education ecosystem.
