
Former Heritage College Dean Barbara Ross-Lee calls on graduates to meet the challenges of modern medicine

The 51ĀŅĀ× Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine honored the resilience and promise of its graduating students at the annual Inclusion Celebration, held May 9, at Heritage Hall in Athens. Sponsored by the Student National Medical Association, the event paid tribute to students who have overcome significant barriers to earn their medical degrees and spotlighted the potential for graduates to use their life experiences and skills to make a positive impact on health care.
The ceremony featured remarks from faculty, students and a pioneering leader in osteopathic medicine, Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O. She became the first Black woman to serve as dean of a U.S. medical school when she joined the 51ĀŅĀ× Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1993. During her keynote address, Ross-Lee, a longtime champion for health equity and access, called upon the graduates to meet the challenges of modern medicine with wisdom, pride and vision.
āBecoming a physician is not just a career choice, it is a high calling with awesome responsibilities,ā Ross-Lee said. āFrom this day forward, it is an immutable part of who you are and who you will always beālike your race, ethnicity or genderā¦no other profession is so honored.ā
Ross-Leeās message was framed by what she called the āFour Beāsā: Be Good, Be Wise, Be Proud, and Be Visionaryāeach reflecting a deep call to action for future osteopathic physicians to confront challenges related to access, cost and quality in health care and to lead the profession with both skill and compassion.
Heritage College Chief Inclusion Officer Tanisha King, Ph.D., emphasized the importance of honoring one's background while committing to the highest standards of patient care.
āAs a first-generation or underrepresented physician, it is imperative that you keep these teachings with you,ā King said. āYour patients deserve a physician that will treat them in the way in which the oath you take states: with dignity and respect.ā
A highlight of the celebration came from the words of Class of 2025 graduate Shamone Gore Panter, D.O., who shared her deeply personal journey from hardship to healing, underscoring the strength that comes from lived experience.
āIf someone had told the 7-year-old girl living in a Massachusetts motel room on New Yearās Eve in 1986 that she would one day stand before a room full of graduating doctorsāmany who look like her, come from where she came from, and carry the same generational weightāshe wouldnāt have believed it,ā Gore Panter said. āBut that girl was me.ā
In her address, she recounted a life shaped by trauma, perseverance and ultimately, purpose. Her words celebrated not only her journey, but those of her fellow graduates.
āOur presence in these white coats didnāt come easily. For many of us, it came with scarsā¦in all of it, I came to understand that my pain didnāt disqualify me from medicineāit prepared me for it,ā she said. āBecause some of us donāt just learn medicine from textbooksāwe live it. We know what itās like to be misdiagnosed, dismissed or made to feel invisible. And thatās why we will change this system. I didnāt choose medicine because it was easy. I chose it because Iāve seen what happens when people like us donāt have a seat at the table. I chose family medicineāand osteopathic medicine specificallyābecause D.O.s donāt just treat symptoms. We treat people. We see bodies, yesābut we also see stories.ā
She concluded with a call to reshape the future of health care by bringing humanity back into the profession.
āWe are not statistics. We are not āexceptions.ā We are the long-overdue correction to a system that has failed too many for too longā¦weāve walked through fire to get hereāand fire didnāt destroy us. It refined usā¦we are the future of medicine. We are the bridge between science and soul. We are what healing looks like when it grows from struggle.ā
The Inclusion Celebration recognized the achievements of students overcoming obstacles but also reaffirmed the collegeās commitment to train the next generation of osteopathic physicians.
As Ross-Lee concluded, āYou hold the future in your hands.ā