As graduates crossed the stage at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on May 8, the culmination of their time at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (Katz) was marked by celebration, reflection, and excitement for the beginning of a new chapter.
Addressing the Class of 2026 during the school’s commencement ceremony, Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS, the Marjorie Joy Katz Dean, encouraged graduates to think beyond the milestone itself and consider the accumulation of choices that shaped their journey.
“In the moment, these choices don’t always feel consequential,” Dean Goldberg said. “But over time, they build on one another. And often, it’s only in looking back that you can see how something that feels small at the time becomes much bigger.”
The commencement ceremony celebrated graduates across Katz’s programs and campuses, including the North Philadelphia and St. Luke’s University Health Network regional campus. The day before, graduates’ achievements were honored at Awards Day, and the following morning families, faculty, alumni and community members gathered as graduates officially joined the ranks of Temple Made physicians, scientists and healthcare leaders.
Dean Goldberg reflected on the paths that led graduates to medicine and science, noting that growth often comes through moments of uncertainty.
“That’s the thing about the paths we take,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t just reflect who we are. They challenge the limits we’ve quietly placed on ourselves. They push us to grow into something more.”
She also connected the graduates’ journeys to the school’s history as Katz approaches its 125th anniversary this fall, recalling that its founding in 1901 as Pennsylvania’s first co-educational medical school was itself rooted in bold decisions to expand opportunity and access. She noted that the school’s earliest classes were held at night and on weekends so that students who worked during the day could still pursue a medical education - choices that challenged the norms of the time and established a mission that continues to define Katz today.
“From then to now, even through advances in practice and technology, that foundation has not changed,” Dean Goldberg said.
She encouraged graduates to carry those values forward into the next chapter of their careers, reminding them that their decision to pursue medicine at Temple connected them to a legacy grounded in compassion, resilience and community.
“I know that you will wear your Temple pride, and the decision you made to dedicate yourselves to these values, as a badge of honor,” she said.
A Temple Alumnus Reflects on a Lifetime in Medicine
The ceremony’s keynote speaker, James Anasti, MD ’82, represented the school where his own medical journey began. A longtime faculty member and leader at the St. Luke’s regional campus, Dr. Anasti is retiring at the end of the academic year after decades spent teaching and mentoring Katz students.
Introducing him, Dean Goldberg described him as “a trusted mentor, a gifted educator, and a role model for what it means to care deeply for patients while teaching future physicians to do the same.”
In his remarks, Dr. Anasti reflected on the meaning of being “Temple Made,” describing the values he carried from Katz into every phase of his career.
“Temple made was never about the brick and mortar,” he said. “It’s about the people and what they instilled in us.”
He recounted lessons learned from mentors and patients alike, from perseverance during grueling residency training to caring for underserved farmworkers during his time in the Public Health Service. Throughout, he emphasized the importance of curiosity, compassion and teaching.
“Whether it is students, residents, fellows, patients or colleagues, to experience those ‘AHA’ moments are priceless,” he said.
Celebrating Mentors, Classmates and Temple Family
In keeping with tradition, the graduating MD class dedicated its yearbook, The Skull, to faculty members selected by students for their lasting impact on the class. This year’s dedicatees represented both Katz campuses: Gerald Sterling, PhD, on the North Philadelphia campus, and Tecile Andolino, MD, at the St. Luke’s regional campus.
In his remarks, Dr. Sterling encouraged graduates to remain grounded in their values and open to life’s unexpected turns.
“You are a very caring and compassionate class,” he said. “Continue to live by those values.”
Dr. Andolino challenged graduates to continue dreaming boldly as they enter medicine.
“This path that you have chosen is more than a career. It’s a calling to serve and to heal,” she said. “While this dream of being a physician is about to be realized, I challenge you to keep dreaming boldly, because the real work is just beginning.”
Students also heard reflections from MD class leaders representing both campuses.
Yaniv Maddahi, who served as class president at the St. Luke’s campus, reflected on the resilience that carried the class through difficult moments.
“All of us, at some point, questioned whether we would make it to this day,” he said. “And yet, we did. Not by chance, but by continuing forward even when things felt uncertain.”
Brooke Stanicki, president of the North Philadelphia campus class and the Student Government Association, reflected on the uncertainty that defines medical training, and the confidence graduates eventually develop through experience.
“I hope you remember those moments where you had no idea what the heck you were doing,” she said. “Because residency will bring that feeling back. But remember, you won’t fall forever.”
The ceremony also highlighted the relationships that sustained graduates through medical school. As academic hoods were presented, some students were hooded by family members who had helped shape their journeys in medicine. Among them was Phyllis Parkansky, who was hooded by her mother, Inessa Parkansky, MD ’99. Dr. Parkansky had attended medical schoolKatz while raising her daughter, making the moment a full-circle milestone for the family.
As the ceremony concluded, applause echoed through the concert hall as graduates celebrated with classmates, mentors and loved ones. Ahead lay residency programs, research careers and new chapters across the country. But for the members of the Class of 2026, the day served as both an ending and a beginning. A beginning that will be shaped, as Dean Goldberg reminded them, by the decisions they make each day moving forward.
“So don’t be afraid of them,” she told the class. “Trust yourselves, and trust what you’ve learned. It has prepared you to go anywhere, and to do more good everywhere.”