My closing message to you this evening is a simple message. It is simply to remember.Remember to give your very best effort to the patients you are privileged to
treat, the people with whom you will be interacting and the activities in which you will be engaged.
Remember that your academic experiences at Baylor have prepared you with a firm foundation in knowledge, technical
skills, and professional values. Your professional values must be steered by a commitment to place the welfare of the patients preeminent among your priorities. Remembering and living by this commitment will ensure that
you will enjoy all the personal and professional rewards of service to others through a life in dentistry.
Remember that yours is an honorable profession. It is a public trust based on sophisticated knowledge and a
commitment to self-regulation. Health professionals pursue the goals of humanity, not primarily or necessarily for their own individual personal good but the good of others.
Remember that you have acquired another
family – the Baylor family, to whom you can turn for advice and counsel.
Finally, remember to stop and savor life. The issues in which you will be engaged and the career you will build require a serious sense of
purpose, a wonderful spirit of inquiry, and a sense of humor; therefore, also remember to enjoy life and have fun along the way!
My warmest wishes to you for a healthy, prosperous and rewarding career, and my
heartiest congratulations to you and your loved ones on your achievements tonight.
