24 June 2021
A Joint Graduation Ceremony took place on Thursday 23 June 2021 at the UNIC Open Amphitheatre in Nicosia. The Joint Ceremony combined two years of Medical School graduates, the 2020 and 2021 classes, due to cancellation of ceremonial events last year related to the global pandemic.
The guest of honour was the Minister of Health Mr Constandinos Ioannou. During his address he expressed the State’s gratitude to the Medical School for its contribution over the last 15 months in the Government’s efforts to address the impact of the pandemic and by turning its Medical Centre into a Vaccination Centre. He also added that since its establishment in 2011, the University of Nicosia Medical School has evolved to an internationally recognized School, which attracts students from many parts of the world, providing them with means to excel and serve their profession.
The Dean of the Medical School, Professor Andreas Charalambous, addressed new initiatives of the School including the Medical Centre, the delivery of the Master degree in Health Services Administration, and the significant contributions of the faculty to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that the Medical School has developed and is leading an international initiative aimed at investigating overall and cause-specific mortality and morbidity resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic. The c-MOR project is a Consortium consisting of 58 partner institutions from 52 different countries.
Professor Harris Pastides, Interim President of the University of South Carolina delivered the key note speech that addressed the resiliency and persistence that graduates need to exercise throughout their career. Professor Pastides received the Degree of Doctor of Science (Medicine) in acknowledgment of his distinguished career in public health, research innovation and academic leadership.
Professor Paul Kymissis was also awarded the Degree of Doctor of Science (Medicine) in acknowledgment of his distinguished career in psychiatry and medical education. Paul Kymissis served as Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at the Medical School where he served until June of 2019.
Academic awards were presented for the following six programmes of study: Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Doctor of Medicine (MD), Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare and Biomedical Education, Master of Science in Family Medicine and Master of Public Health.
The ceremony ended with the new medical graduates publicly taking the Hippocratic Oath.