2025 Graduation and Hippocratic Oath Ceremony Week
Thursday, May 8th at 12pm
Senior Send-Off Luncheon
TSCHE 4th Floor Living Room
This is an opportunity to have lunch with classmates and review important details for the next day's ceremony. Please make every effort to attend. Additionally, the Medical Alumni Association will have a gift for graduating students, and you can obtain a yearbook. We know family and friends are eager to support, but this event is for MS4 students only.
Friday, May 9th at 7pm
Hippocratic Oath Ceremony
Duke Chapel
This is when seniors will obtain their Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degrees and recite the Hippocratic Oath as they formally enter the medical profession as physicians. Duke's Hippocratic Oath Ceremony includes a recitation of The Hippocratic Oath and distribution of your diploma. This is the main event!
- Chapel Doors open at 6:15pm for guests and seating is first come, first serve
- No guest limit for ceremony (4-person guest limit for reception venue only)
- GRADUATING STUDENTS must be at the Old Chem Building at 6:00pm for a class photo
- GRADUATING STUDENTS will line up for processional at 6:30pm outside the Duke Chapel
- Reception at Penn Pavilion immediately following the ceremony
- Free Parking in Bryan Center Garage located on Science Drive beginning at 5:30pm
- A live stream link will be shared closer to the date
Saturday, May 10th
No formal events
Sunday, May 11th
Duke Commencement Ceremony
Wallace Wade Stadium
Duke holds one university-wide commencement ceremony to celebrate the three graduating classes of that academic year. September 2024, December 2024, and May 2025 graduates, from all ten Duke schools are invited to attend. Graduates will be required to request tickets for their guests.
Although most graduating medical students historically do not attend this ceremony, it is for you, and you are welcome to participate!
When should family arrive?
Family can get reservations at area hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts. Book early! The earliest your family has to be here is mid-afternoon Friday.
What name will they put on my diploma?
The Registrar’s Office will be asking you to provide your name to the UNIVERSITY MARSHAL’s office that prints your diploma. The name appears exactly as the student enters it when applying for graduation on-line. Students should make sure that if they have a middle initial and wish for a period to be after the middle initial, they enter that punctuation during the application for graduation process.
Where do I get my cap, gown & hood?
For the Hippocratic Oath Ceremony, Diploma Ceremony, and University graduation--caps, gowns and hoods are rented through the Bryan Center Bookstore. You will get information mailed to you by the University (there is a fee to rent apparel). The caps, gowns and hoods are to be picked up by you and returned immediately after Sunday’s reception. (You can keep your tassels.) Go to the following link for general information: https://commencement.duke.edu/commencement-information/apparel/.
Where do I get my Announcements and Invitations?
Graduation announcements and invitations may be purchased at the Bryan Center or Medical Center Bookstore. Hippocratic Oath and School of Medicine Diploma Ceremony invitations are provided by the Student Affairs office and will be available on Match Day.
Where are you going for your residency?
Please let us know where you matched, so that we can include this information in the Hippocratic Oath Program. The Medical Alumni Office will want this information as well, so that they can keep you informed about future events for your class.
Students: Keep in touch! READ your emails! More information will follow soon. If you have questions, please contact Student Affairs – medOSA@duke.edu or call (919) 668-1670.