Technology changes the world, but Medicine is about people

The graduating students made their entrance in procession. In the hall, the entire Faculty was awaiting them. The ceremony was opened by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Professor Alessandro Sgambato: “As I look at you today, I do not simply see graduates. I see the next generation of doctors, bearing one of the greatest responsibilities anyone can be given: the trust that society will place in each and every one of you. From this day forward, patients will entrust you with their health, their fears, their hopes, their needs and, at times, their very lives.”

The Dean continued: “As graduates of Università Cattolica, always remember that medicine is much more than a profession. It is a vocation. It is an encounter between people. Scientific knowledge is essential; technical excellence is indispensable. Yet neither is sufficient without humanity. Every patient you will meet is much more than a diagnosis or a medical record. Every patient has a story, a family, dreams, fears and needs. And an intrinsic dignity that no illness can ever undermine”.

Alongside the academic words of good wishes came the spiritual message from Don Alessandro Mantini, lecturer in theology and pastoral assistant at the Rome campus: “At the start of your university journey, we welcomed you in the name of our founders, Agostino Gemelli and Armida Barelli. Above all, we welcomed you in the Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom this university is consecrated,” he said, addressing the graduating students. “Now we would like to bid you farewell with three words, in the hope that they will always guide your new journey: Conscience, the core and sanctuary of every person; Virtue, a steadfast and constant attitude, a firm disposition to do good; Hope, the constant endeavour to direct oneself and others towards a fullness of meaning and life”.

And Professor Giovanni Gambassi, President of the Degree Programme, who has guided the new doctors through the six years of their studies, also addressed them with a message: “I encourage each one of you to find your purpose and your strength. While the world around you continues to change – in its technology, its systems and even its professions - your values and your purpose belong to you alone. You have the power to define them, shape them and commit yourselves wholeheartedly to achieving them, leaving your mark on history. The truth is no technology will ever replace you. In the end, the future of medicine will not be defined by technology, it will be defined by you”.

Following the official opening remarks, all attention turned to the words of Amandeep Singh Gill, who summarised in a single, profound and forward-looking statement the mission of future doctors in the face of the new challenge posed by Artificial Intelligence: “Every anxiety about artificial intelligence in medicine, the loss of the human touch, the erosion of clinical skills, the reduction of the patient to a mere data point, already finds its answer in the very oath that every physician takes.”

Before the conferrals, several special mentions were made: Aurora Scalia, was recognized as Valedictorian for achieving the highest academic average, while Angelo Latella received the Student Service Award for his commitment to serving both its class and the entire university community. A special mention was also made to Sara Marjani Zadeh, a FAO official who completed her degree programme while working, and Piergiacomo Cacciamani, who already holds engineering degrees from the United States and the United Kingdom and is now adding a degree in Medicine and Surgery to his qualifications.

After that, the official degree conferral began. In the silence of the hall, the new graduates in Medicine and Surgery were formally proclaimed, as the culmination of a long journey became a tangible reality in one of the most significant moments in the life of every student.

An academic ceremony with an international dimension, through which education becomes a commitment and, ultimately, everyone becomes part of a professional community open to the world, with in-depth knowledge and a human touch: “Your role will not simply be to work alongside a machine; it will be enhanced,” Mr Gill concluded in his message to the newly qualified doctors, “But on one condition: only if you allow the algorithm to take care of what can be quantified, while devoting your time and the expertise you have acquired to everything that cannot.”

Once again, the Rome campus witnessed a day of achievements and celebration, centred on the true values of the medical profession and, in particular, on medicine as an art, following the approach that is taught and practised at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore: transforming education into a commitment toward everyone, standing by those who suffer, becoming a source of promise and embodying hope for those who, from today onwards, will turn to every new young doctor each day.

With compassion, expertise, dedication and empathy: everything an algorithm is not.