A special Commencement memory for a NEOMED graduate
Recent NEOMED graduate Joshua Werle, M.D., reached out to the Office of Student Services earlier this year to float the idea of having a member of the graduating class sing the National Anthem at Commencement. Namely, himself.
“I'm a fan of music and singing and always thought I could do something like this,” he said.
He did have to audition, but ultimately Dr. Werle got his wish, singing the Star Spangled Banner in front of fellow members of the NEOMED Class of 2026, and family and friends during the 46th Commencement held May 2, 2026, at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron.
A FAMILY OF MUSICIANS
Dr. Werle came by his musical talent naturally. Both of his parents studied music in college: his mother sings, his father plays the trumpet.
“They both dropped out and then went back later to do different things, but that's what their original passions were. So I inherited that,” Dr. Werle shared.
While he sings when he can (usually in the shower), he has very little formal training.
“I took classes a long time ago for a short amount of time, but they were pretty expensive,” he said. His small middle and high schools offered few opportunities to hone his vocal abilities through choir or other musical groups.
At NEOMED, he continued to look for opportunities to sing, including the annual Body Donor Memorial program and open mic nights sponsored by student groups.
In preparation for his performance at Commencement, he practiced 20 to 30 minutes a day.
“I feel like it is a tough song. And if you do too much, you start to lose your voice, right?” he said.
Singing a cappella, he had some freedom with the vocal arrangement.
“I'm not going to go crazy with it. But I also feel like it gets pretty boring if you just sing it exactly how it was written. So I’m trying to find the place that is right for me. That’s been the biggest challenge,” he shared.
SOMETHING HIGH ACHIEVING
A native of McDonald, Ohio, a tiny village just outside Youngstown, Dr. Werle came to NEOMED via the early assurance program at Youngstown State University.
As a child, he did not necessarily dream of growing up to be a physician, but he knew he wanted to do something that pushed his limits.
“I was obviously a smart kid, as everybody else was in medical school. I always knew that I wanted to do something high achieving, but I never actually knew what I wanted to do,” he said. “I did a lot of searching around during my final years of high school, and the only thing that sounded good was medicine.”
He continued: “Even so, I really wasn't convinced of it until I actually started medical school. As soon as I got to NEOMED, when I started doing patient interviews and I started learning the specific science, I knew that I was hooked. This was exactly where I wanted to be.”
Dr. Werle will complete his residency in emergency medicine at Summa Health in Akron.
“I am somebody who is likes to work fast and likes to not be bored,” he said, explaining his choice of career path. “My favorite part of medicine is figuring out what's going on, the diagnosing part. That's a big part of emergency medicine.”
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Watch: Joshua Werle, M.D., sings National Anthem before receiving his doctoral hood from NEOMED
Read: NEOMED celebrates306 new graduates at Commencement Ceremony