Inside Med School

There are three major milestones in the career of a medical student. The first is the white coat ceremony, the second is match-day (the day you find out what residency program you matched to,) and last is commencement. Before the ceremony, I thought this was a pretty strange tradition, because it’s almost like a graduation before we’ve even done anything. But by the end of the ceremony, I realized the full significance of this event.

The ceremony is designed to re-iterate the importance of everything the white coat comes to symbolize. They emphasized that the white coat is the most recognizable feature of a physician and comes to represent compassion, empathy, caring, responsibility, and honor.

The ceremony lasted about 2 hours, and consisted of several very inspirational speeches. They reminded us medical students that everything we do from this starting point of our career, should be for the benefit of our patients.  Our profession is one of compassion, and sacrifice, and a white coat is a symbol of that commitment.

It was a very surreal experience to hand over my white coat to my cloaker. As she cloaked me with my coat, I gotta admit a chill went down my spine. It ‘s an amazing experience. In an instant, I fully understood the scope of the task that lies ahead, and I was eager and willing to accept it for the good of my future patients.

Once we all received our white coats, we all recited the Hippocratic oath, and the residing physicians renewed their oath. I think it’s important to include the oath in its entirety.

The Oath of Hippocrates:

I SOLEMNLY SWEAR OR AFFIRM, by whatever I hold most sacred:

That I will be loyal to the profession of medicine and just and generous to its members;

That I will lead my life and practice my art in uprightness and in honor;

That into whatsoever house I shall enter; it shall be for the good of the sick to the utmost of my power; holding myself far aloof from wrong, from corruption, from the tempting of others to vice;

That I will exercise my art solely for the benefit of my patients, and will give no drug, or perform no operation, for a criminal purpose, even if solicited, far less suggest it;

That whatsoever I shall see or hear of the lives of patients which is not fitting to be spoken, I will keep inviolably secret.

These things I do swear or affirm.

After the ceremony there was a very nice reception where we all got to mingle with the alumni, physicians, and our parents. I was skeptical at first about the importance of this ceremony, but I truly believe this will be a memorable point in my life that I will come back to often. So for those of you, who are skeptical like I was, make sure you take this ceremony seriously, and try and get your parents to join and participate in this important milestone. Trust me, it’s worth it.