As the year comes to a close, the Office of Communications is rerunning some of the most significant stories posted in 2024. You’ll read about the Nobel Prize received by a UMass Chan professor; the opening of a new building designed for collaboration on gene therapy, neuroscience and molecular medicine research; and the first students to enroll in our second regional campus, a partnership with Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. This story was originally published on Sept. 5.
The first cohort of 32 LEAD@Lahey medical students gathered for a celebratory event with the UMass Chan Medical School and Lahey Hospital & Medical Center community on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at the UMass Chan-Lahey regional campus in Burlington to mark the launch of the new program.
“These first few weeks of medical school have been exciting and surreal,” said LEAD@Lahey student Sana Baban of Florida. “I’m excited to see what our classmates will do with their training and how they’ll make an impact in the health care field.”
Classmate Jessica Pan, from Beijing, said, “It’s such a privilege that we’re coming to a new program and we get to set pace for our next years and beyond. I’m really excited to see how we get to shape this program in the future.”
Students in the LEAD@Lahey (which stands for lead, empower, advocate and deliver) track will follow the core curriculum of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine with additional emphasis on leadership, health systems science and interprofessional education, preparing them to lead and solve future challenges in health care. This is the second UMass Chan regional campus. The Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health, or PURCH, track at UMass-Chan Baystate in Springfield was established in 2017.
Medical students Sana Baban, Jessica Pan, Sophia Rose and Ethan Jose Chivi carpooled to the event from Worcester.
“This new regional campus benefits not only Burlington, but the surrounding communities,” said Chancellor Michael F. Collins. “While our initial roots are in Worcester, let me be clear that we are the state’s medical school—the commonwealth’s medical school. We are proud to now go from the Cape to the Berkshires, from Springfield to Burlington.”
Students in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine are grouped into learning communities, or houses, to foster interclass interaction and link students with faculty mentors. Each house has a regionally significant name. The learning community for LEAD@Lahey students is Walden House, inspired by the transformative nature of nearby Walden Pond.
“You’ve brought Walden House to life in all possible ways,” Anne Mosenthal, MD, professor of surgery at UMass Chan-Lahey, chief academic officer of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and regional executive dean of UMass Chan-Lahey, told the gathered LEAD@Lahey students. “I know you will go on to be wonderful leaders and transform medicine.”
Along with their white coats, the students will don pins that bear the Walden House insignia, a salmon-colored emblem with a mallard mascot, during the T.H. Chan School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony on Friday, Sept. 6, at the Hanover Theatre.
“Exploring the new hospital and seeing the new rooms in Walden House has been amazing,” said LEAD@Lahey student Ethan Jose Chivi of Los Angeles. “I chose LEAD@Lahey because they can develop my skills as a physician and a leader.”
Classmate Sophia Rose, from Minnesota, said, “Purpose-based leadership, values-based leadership and lifelong learning are crucial in providing good leadership and health care. I’m excited to continue to practice all of these forms of leadership with my peers and hopefully make a change in the health care system.”
Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine thanked the new students. “Medical education is a learning experience for both the faculty and students, so we look forward to learning,” he said.
News coverage
Spectrum News 1:
UMass Chan-Lahey welcomes first cohort of medical students at Burlington campus
Worcester Business Journal:
First medical school cohort starts at UMass Chan's newly launch Burlington campus
