TV Docs to Join Real Doctors in AMA’s Salute to Graduating Medical Students

May 20 Broadcast Will Feature Actors from Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs and Other Leading TV Shows, as well as Current and Former Surgeons General, Anthony Fauci, Melinda Gates and more

CHICAGO - Actors who have portrayed doctors in TV and movies and other notable celebrities will join our nation’s leading physicians in the American Medical Association’s (AMA) national celebration of new medical student graduates. These leading voices in health care, science, and culture will offer their encouragement, advice and inspiration, in personalized, self-taped messages to the 30,000 future physicians who are graduating this spring.

The AMA Tribute to the Medical School Class of 2020 virtual event will occur on May 20, 2020 at 6 p.m. CDT with a national premiere on AMA’s YouTube channel and a watch party on Facebook. Hosted by actor/comedian Brian Unger (Dr. Stafford, Yellowstone), the event will put a spotlight on 2020 medical school graduates and their future work improving health as they embark on their careers as physicians.

“Now more than ever, the AMA believes we must recognize the young women and men who have answered a calling to science, patient care and the health of our nation,” said AMA President Patrice A. Harris, M.D., M.A. “As these future physicians enter a world with unprecedented challenges, it is more vital than ever to celebrate their decision to enter the medical profession and their commitment to heal.”

Confirmed participants in the broadcast include:

Actors playing physicians on TV/movies:

• Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy)
• SCRUBS creator Bill Lawrence reassembled cast members Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, Neil Flynn, John C. McGinley and Judy Reyes
• Matt Czuchry (The Resident, The Good Wife, Gilmore Girls)
• Nicholas Gonzalez (The Good Doctor)
• Ken Jeong, MD (Crazy Rich Asians, Community, Dr. Ken)
• Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman)
• Brian Unger (Yellowstone, How the States Got Their Shapes)
• Matt Walsh (The Hangover, Veep)

Additional actors participating:

• Jeff Bridges (Academy-Award^®-winning Actor, Crazy Heart)
• Drew Carey (Actor, Comedian, Host)
• Tony Goldwyn (Scandal)
• Marcia Gay Harden (Academy-Award^®-winning Actress, Pollock; Code Black)
• Regina King (Academy-Award^®-winning Actress, Producer, Director)
• Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Apple TV’s Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet)
• Kaitlin Olson (The Mick, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)
• Craig T. Nelson (Coach, Parenthood)

TV/media physicians:

• Lisa Sanders, MD (Netflix’s Diagnosis)
• Mikhail (Mike) Varshavski, DO (Dr. Mike on YouTube)

Musical Artist:

• Zach Heckendorf, with an acoustic version of his new single, “Up”, courtesy of Aware Music/Missing Piece Group

Physician Speakers include:

• VADM Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH, U.S. Surgeon General
• Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• Esther Choo, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University; founder of Equity Quotient and #GetMePPE
• Anthony S. Fauci, MD, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, surgeon, writer and public health innovator; professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School.
• Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA, AMA President
• Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, AMA Chief Health Equity Officer
• David Satcher, MD, PhD, 16^th Surgeon General of the United States and former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health
• Anne Schuchat, MD, Principal Deputy Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CONTACT:
AMA Media & Editorial
phone: (312) 464-4430
[email protected]