2025 Commencement Valedictorian Jamie Gabriel Inspires Graduates with a Call to Lead with Balance, Compassion, and Service

At the Southern California University of Health Sciences 2025 Commencement Ceremony, Jamie Gabriel, valedictorian for the Master of Science in Physician Assistant program, delivered an inspiring and deeply personal address that captured the heart of SCU’s Whole Health mission.

Balancing multiple roles as a full-time Los Angeles County Fire Department captain, a graduate student, and a parent, Gabriel spoke powerfully about perseverance, leadership through service, and the importance of balance — not only in patient care, but in life itself.

Her remarks resonated with graduates across programs, offering a reminder that healthcare is not just about treating disease, but about honoring people, nurturing wellness, and sustaining the healer as much as the healed.

Jamie Gabriel’s Commencement Speech

Good morning, esteemed faculty, family, friends, and my fellow graduates. My name is Jamie Gabriel. I’m a candidate for the Master of Science in the Physician Assistant program, and I also serve full-time as a fire captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Returning to school later in life, having already established a full-time career in the fire service, may have seemed unconventional, but my desire was driven by the need to set an example for my kids that it is never too early or too late to pursue their dreams with courage and purpose.

I want to thank the people in my life who made it possible. My husband, Jason; my mom, Jeanette; my mother-in-law, Kitty; my three kids, Kylie, Bradley, and Carter; my fire department family; and, of course, my fellow classmates in the PA program.

Today’s achievement is a collective effort shaped by everyone who believed in us, those who challenged us, and those who lifted us when we needed it most. To all of the family and friends in here, viewing from the overflow room or watching online, it is your encouragement, patience, and love that gave us the strength to stay the course and pursue a calling in medicine.

To my fellow graduates. Throughout this journey, we have studied the science of the human body, but we have also learned the value of balance. Balance between science and compassion, between evidence-based practice and human connection, and understanding the difference between curing a disease and promoting wellness.

Our patients don’t come to us as symptoms or lab values. They come as people with stories, fears, hopes, and dreams. As integrative health practitioners, it is our responsibility to see the whole person and to also extend that compassion inward to ourselves because balance doesn’t just apply to our patient care.

It is something we must cultivate in our own lives. In healthcare, finding balance is not a luxury. It is essential, and it’s vital that we understand that our ability to provide patient care is directly tied to the balance we maintain in our own lives, our relationships, our health, and our mental well-being.

As we prepare to enter this next chapter, I want to leave you with a few thoughts on leadership. Leadership in healthcare is not about authority. It is about the responsibility of service to others and taking ownership over our patients’ outcome. It means rejecting excuses when it may seem easier to blame the system, staff shortages, insurance coverage, or even the patients themselves.

A true leader remains committed to the mission through humility, continued learning, and consistently showing up. Turning action into progress that surpasses barriers others may choose to accept. Having been trained in integrative health, we enter our careers with a distinct advantage. One built on a broader understanding of how people heal.

Our education pushed us to look beyond a single solution and, through integrative classes and workshops, taught us to work in collaboration across disciplines. This means we are already the leaders that healthcare needs. We don’t need permission, a title, or seniority. We need only to step into the potential we have spent years developing and apply it where others stop short. Moving past barriers that have held the system back for too long.

Class of 2025, we are ready for this moment. So let us move forward with confidence, humility, balance, and a relentless commitment to serve. Knowing that the future of healthcare will be changed by the choices we make, the limitations we refuse to accept, and the people we dedicate ourselves to healing.

Congratulations.