Newly graduated Joseph Idoko delivers the student address.
Credit: Joe Carrotta
The fourth graduating class of NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine celebrated earning their MDs on May 13, with each promising to enhance medical care in communities needing primary care physicians.
, dean of NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, led the graduating class of 23 students in reciting the Hippocratic oath amid dignitaries that included Kenneth Langone, chair of the NYU Langone Board of Trustees; Robert I. Grossman, MD, CEO of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine; and incoming CEO and dean Alec Kimmelman, MD, PhD. The keynote speaker for this year’s commencement was Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation dedicated to affordable quality healthcare.
“Medicine is a unique occupation. It is both interesting and engaging. There are so many opportunities. It will provide lifelong learning,” said Dean Grossman, who told graduates to enjoy the journey. “Have confidence in your abilities. Aim high. Aspire to be the very best that you can be.”
The Mineola medical school was the first in the nation to offer a three-year, tuition-free degree with a focus on primary care. Its mission is to help address the shortage of primary care physicians locally and in communities across the country.
“Our job is to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care to all we see. The truth is doing this for some will be harder than doing it for others,” said Dr. Betancourt. “Some will require more from us, some will require less, but the most gratifying cases are those that took something special from us to make something special happen for the patient in front of us.”
NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine dignitaries and the graduating Class of 2025
Credit: Joe Carrotta
“We are incredibly proud of this year’s graduates and their dedication to our school’s ongoing mission to provide comprehensive and compassionate care,” said Dean Ayala. “We are excited to see how they apply their medical and leadership skills to enhance the care of each and every patient they see.”
For Joseph Idoko, who delivered the student address, graduating from medical school is a dream come true. When he was 13 years old, he lost his father, who suffered from complicated diabetes that led to heart disease and subsequent strokes; he made a vow to one day help others suffering from chronic illnesses like his father’s. “Thank you to the school, thank you to my fellow classmates, and most importantly, thank you to those [family members] here in the room and those far away. … Your support has made this day possible,” said Idoko. Of this year’s graduating class, nine students matched residencies with NYU Langone Health.
For the first time, a graduating student from the school—Amanda Greco—matched to an internal medicine primary care track at NYU Langone’s Tisch Hospital.
“I am incredibly grateful to have gone to a tuition-free medical school. Because of this, I have been able to pursue my future without financial concerns limiting my interests or opportunities,” said Greco, who grew up in Floral Park, just 15 minutes from the medical school and NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island.
The match “is very meaningful to me,” she said, adding, “I have truly enjoyed my NYU Langone Long Island family and am looking forward to expanding that family to the Manhattan campus for my residency training.”
ѵ NYU Langone Health
NYU Langone Health is a fully integrated health system that consistently achieves the best patient outcomes through a rigorous focus on quality that has resulted in some of the lowest mortality rates in the nation. Vizient Inc. has ranked NYU Langone No. 1 out of 115 comprehensive academic medical centers across the nation for three years in a row, and U.S. News & World Report recently placed nine of its clinical specialties among the top five in the nation. NYU Langone offers a comprehensive range of medical services with one high standard of care across 7 inpatient locations, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and more than 320 outpatient locations in the New York area and Florida. With $14.2 billion in revenue this year, the system also includes two tuition-free medical schools, in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a vast research enterprise.
ѵ NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine
NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine is the only medical school in the country to offer a three-year, tuition-free medical degree in primary care. Its mission is to prepare graduates to deliver outstanding patient care and become authorities in local and national health systems. The school first opened its doors in 2019 and is fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the foremost accreditor of medical schools in the United States and Canada. The school’s programs offer postgraduate medical education training in more than 20 specialties. Throughout all these programs, NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine encourages research collaboration in basic, clinical, and translational sciences to solve today’s most urgent healthcare needs.
Media Inquiries
Rosemary Gomez
Phone: 516-663-2709
Rosemary.Gomez@NYULangone.org
