Kansas City University-Joplin medical school holds first graduation ceremony

JOPLIN, Mo. –Kansas City University Joplin’s medical school held their first ever graduation for their Joplin campus on Sunday. 

The ceremony was held at Missouri Southern State University to ensure social distancing. 

Some procedures were modified such as mask wearing and limiting guest size.

During the pandemic the school transitioned to online learning for a bit, but students were able to receive hands on learning and prepare for the workforce, and were able to celebrate their hard work in person this weekend.

“So we were so blessed today that for the first graduation in Joplin we were able to get together as a community,” said Laura Rosch, Dean of Kansas City University’s Joplin campus. 

“I’ve been telling myself since high school, you know med school graduation is really what I’m interested in, that’s the stage I wanna walk across, everything else is just a stepping stone to get there, and when the pandemic came and I thought oh, I may not get to do the walk, I was a little disappointed I won’t lie. But being able to be here and actually physically walk across the stage and have one of my mentors in medicine…has been fantastic,” said graduate Michael Weaver.

131 new doctors emerged from today’s graduation ceremony.