By Chris McLaughlin
McLaughlin is president of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Class of 2017.
Roanoke, this one’s for you. A few weeks ago, I had the chance to address the last of the founding classes of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine during the school’s annual graduation dinner. The theme was “Built to Last.” So let me take a step back and reflect on what you — the community — and we — Virginia Tech Carilion — have built.
We built a medical school: one that is fully accredited. We recruited, trained and welcomed some of the best faculty in the nation. We physically constructed Virginia Tech Carilion, a building made of Hokie Stone and Carilion glass. Within the medical school, we built a curriculum, one focused on excellence in basic science, clinical science, research, and interprofessionalism, all while keeping in perspective the patient-centered nature of the practice of medicine. And for the last three years, we watched the first three classes come through, graduate, and begin to build their careers. For the Class of 2017, it’s now our turn. Last week, we celebrated the fourth, and final founding class, which puts the finishing touches on the foundation of this school.
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For my classmates and me, our education and career opportunities weren’t the only things to grow. We also found new homes, new hobbies, new favorite restaurants, new mentors and friends, started new families, and some of us were even lucky enough to find the love of our lives.
So we built a medical school and four graduating classes. But why will this last?
The answer is simple: because of you. Because of Virginia Tech, Carilion Clinic, and the greater Southwest Virginia community that we call “home.” We are proud to be Virginia Tech’s medical school, to serve Carilion Clinic patients and physicians, and to live in the Roanoke Valley.
In many ways, the growth of this community has paralleled our own growth as medical students at a new medical school. Roanoke, our medical home, has truly grown up alongside us. The last four years have demonstrated the upward trajectory that Roanoke is capable of.
From the new Virginia Tech School of Neuroscience and the health science and technology corridor, to the addition of new departments, new chairs of existing departments, and the foundation of the Carilion Clinic Institute of Orthopaedics and Neurosciences. I could go on and on. And around us this evolution continues: from Deschutes and Ballast Point locating major breweries here, to the inaugural season of the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, to Athens Corner Grill, Mellow Mushroom, and The Bridges, redefining the caffeine habit for many of us at the Riverside Complex.
This community has been the silent faculty member. The greater Roanoke Valley has played an integral role in our transformation from students to doctors—it is the people we serve that make us Virginia Tech Carilion physicians. Southwest Virginia makes it easy to remember who and what we work for: that we may serve, to inspire better health.
As my classmates and I now depart this place to begin our residency training, we are all looking forward to looking back. It is going to be a lot of fun to watch this place continue to grow. Thank you for making us a part of your story. We look forward to returning someday, which will be made even easier when Amtrak comes to town this fall!
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Class of 2017 raises its glass to you, Roanoke and your — no, our — future.