NYITCOM graduates 104 doctors during hooding ceremony

Dr. Melissa Bonano vividly recalls how she felt when she walked into Wilson Hall for the first time in 2021 to begin her medical school journey.

“Wide-eyed, uncertain, but hopeful,” said Bonano, president of the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University Class of 2025.

As she addressed her graduating classmates Friday (May 23) Bonano said it was a long four years. The graduating class numbered 104.

“Today, we stand transformed, shaped by every challenge, and strengthened by every step that once felt impossible,” Bonano said. “We gather today, not just to celebrate the titles we’ve earned or the regalia we wear, but to honor who we’ve become along the way.”

The Class of 2025 is the sixth to graduate from NYITCOM’s Arkansas campus, which opened in 2016 through a private-public partnership between New York Institute of Technology and A-State.

NYITCOM’s hooding ceremonies, which serve as the medical school’s graduation, are a symbolic passing of the guard from one generation of physicians to the next. New physicians are called to the stage to receive their doctoral hoods, which are either presented by medical school faculty and leaders or family members who are also physicians.

Shane Speights, dean of NYITCOM at A-State, opened the ceremony by challenging the class to always honor the title of doctor, a highly sought after designation that they received following an often grueling journey through medical school.

“You are about to enter into the clinical aspects of your training where you will be directly responsible for the care of a patient,” Speights said. “It’s a level of responsibility that many seek, and few have. I ask that you guard this responsibility closely, for it is not to be abused, and it is not to be taken for granted. The relationship between a doctor and a patient is one of a sacred trust, and undoubtedly one that we will all experience at some point.”

In addition to the 104 students who received their medical degrees, NYITCOM honored 11 students who completed the college’s master of science in biomedical sciences degree, a program that was created in 2020. Four members of the school’s inaugural BMS cohort earned their medical degrees, becoming the first graduates to complete both programs.

NYITCOM at A-State was established to train physicians to help address the ever-growing need in Arkansas and the greater Mississippi Delta region, and more than half of NYITCOM’s Class of 2025 will perform their residency training in the state or region.

Speights concluded the ceremony by reminding the graduates of the opportunity and responsibility they have to serve through medicine as they move to the next phase of their careers.

“It is our sincere hope that you will always remember what the staff and faculty at NYITCOM have wanted for you from the very beginning,” Speights said at the conclusion of the ceremony. “We want you to be successful, attain your goals, and make a positive impact on the world around you through your gifts.”