By Linda Satter
The College of Medicine Class of 2024 class chose Alan Diekman, Ph.D., a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, to deliver the faculty address at the honors convocation, and Diekman used the opportunity to inject some humor into the otherwise weighty ceremony.
He recalled an incident that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in his three-hour classes about biochemistry and endocrinology being held virtually for nine weeks in the graduating students’ first year and five weeks in their second year.
“Often, I told my colleagues that I felt that I was presenting a morning TV talk show,” Diekman said. “We were physically isolated, but we caught glimpses of each other in our homes, maybe with family members or pets.”
Meanwhile, he said, “the chat function, which permitted a level of discourse that would not happen if we were meeting in person, was always very active in class.”
He said it was through that function that “one of your classmates gave me some of the best advice I have ever received.”
Diekman said he can’t remember the subject on which he was pontificating — “let’s pretend it was an erudite exposition on glycolysis, in which I believe I twice used the word ‘behoove’” — when a chat message popped up that had been shared to the entire class. It said, “Calm down, Alan.”
As he repeated the phrase and ripples of laughter filled the hall, Diekman recalled that “I was momentarily speechless — not because I was told to calm down or because I was addressed by my first name, but because of how hysterically funny I thought it was.”
“I knew humor was the intent — I wasn’t upset,” he clarified. “I suspect some of you were also astonished when you saw that chat message, and I still laugh thinking about it. It’s one of my favorite stories to tell of my experiences as an educator.”
Eric Porter, a class favorite, is congratulated onstage. His peers gave him the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, which recognizes compassion in the delivery of medical care.
But his reason for sharing it, he said, is that “it is a memory of your class that I hold dear, and I realized it was some of the best advice anyone could receive during a pandemic. Calm down, Alan. It reminds me of the poster, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On,’ and that’s what you did.”
Diekman said that to carry on during a pandemic, the class had to be resilient, adaptable and self-reliant. He said the classmates’ presence years later at the honors convocation proved that they had those attributes, which will serve them well in their medical careers.
“But being self-reliant doesn’t always mean going in alone,” he said. “You need to be honest about yourself regarding your abilities and your physical and mental limitations,” which includes not being afraid to call in a more experienced physician when needed.
“It will behoove you to remember you are resilient, you are adaptable, and you are self-reliant,” he said.
Then, as a grin spread across his face, he said, “I’ve been waiting to say this for three years: Calm down, Connor.”
With a nod to Connor Roset, the class representative who will soon begin an emergency medicine residency at UAMS (and who agreed beforehand to be mentioned in Diekman’s address), he stepped away from the microphone to hearty applause.