A little over 50,000 graduands received their degrees at the 38th Convocation of the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University held in the city on Friday.Among them were 12,016 medical students, 2,569 dental students, 3,269 students of Ayush, and 32,305 students of nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and allied health sciences.As many as 353 gold and silver medals, endowment certificates, and university medals were presented to 237 candidates. Notably, S. Swetha, an MBBS graduand from Kilpauk Medical College, won nine medals.A total of 66 candidates were conferred with Ph.D. degree.P. Grizelda Evangeline, a cochlear implantee, received a certificate from the Governor for securing the highest marks in Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT), an advanced OT in Paediatrics. She underwent the surgery at the Madras ENT Research Foundation in 2007 when she was two years old.Addressing the students, R.K. Dhiman, Director, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, urged them to focus on cultivating discipline, the right attitude, and consistency at work. Medicine, he said, was not only about healing the disease, but also about healing people. “Medicine is a pure science but the process of delivery is purely an art,” Dr. Dhiman said urging students to also focus on developing powerful and effective communication skills.Presenting the annual report, K. Narayanasamy, Vice Chancellor, Dr. MGR Medical University, said that apart from the regular courses through its 844 affiliate colleges, the university offered direct courses through the Department of Transfusion Medicine and Epidemiology, which are PG degree in Immuno-haematology and Blood Transfusion, MSc courses in Epidemiology, Public Health, and Biostatistics, and a PG Diploma in Medical Journalism.Besides, the University established six regional centres at a cost of ₹16 crore, with four of them dedicated to Nursing with simulation labs and two others equipped with advanced research labs for Pharmacy.Published - February 28, 2026 04:17 am IST