MEDICAL SCHOOL: THE WHITE COAT CEREMONY
BY GRANT MERCER – Prior to the late 1800’s, lab coats were solely worn by scientists, a means of protecting their clothes and skin from the solutions bubbling in the test tubes and beakers surrounding them. Physicians, on the other hand, dressed formally – black frock coat complete with a top hat – while making house calls to their patients’ homes. By dressing this way, doctors sought to garner respect, trust and perhaps obedience to orders for their patients.
During that time, medicine was based more on tradition than science. New doctors, in lieu of a formal medical education, often gained their credentials by apprenticing under older physicians. Traveling salesmen (dressed just as formally as their doctor counterparts), came armed with suitcases brimming with colorful bottles, usually containing little more than vegetable oil laced with alcohol or opium wrapped in the promise of a miracle cure. At a time when established medicine often relied on questionable treatments like bloodletting and purging, no real standards for medicine existed.
However, as the 19thcentury came to a close, medical practices based on scientific principles boomed. Diploma mills were shuttered and the distinction of MD was no long obtainable solely by studying under established physicians. To distinguish themselves from older doctors without academic credentials and flat-out quacks, accredited physicians began wearing the white lab coat, symbolizing their commitment to medicine based on science.
Today most first-year students take part in a medical school rite of passage – the white coat ceremony. During this ceremony, students are presented with a short white lab coat, signifying their dedication to professionalism, caring, and compassion. At the end of their four-year journey through medical school, the short white coat will be exchanged for a long one, denoting their new designation as a full-fledged MD.
Here are the accounts of the white coat ceremonies from the three medical students we are following this year.
ANDREW HEY – On a Sunday afternoon in late July, the University of Louisville medical students gathered in the downtown Louisville Marriott ballroom. Surrounded by family and friends, they were welcomed into the Louisville School of Medicine community. As each student’s name was called, they stepped forward. A member of the medical school faculty helped them into their white coat and offered their congratulations. In addition, each student received a stethoscope, donated by a Louisville medical school alumni, which Andrew noted “made it very special.”
The keynote speaker, University of Louisville President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, advised the students to “Remember, you will be treating a whole human. When you are physicians and you are working with a patient, the patient is more than an aching knee or a tumor. You need to see the psychosocial dimensions of every individual. The more you cultivate your own humanity, the more you cultivate who you are, the better off you will be.
Finally cloaked in their new white coats and standing as one, the Louisville School of Medicine class of 2022 took the Declaration of Geneva, a modernized version of the Oath of Hippocrates, in which new physicians swear to uphold professional ethical standards.
LEIGH ANNE KLINE – The Wake Forest School of Medicine white coat ceremony was held at its traditional location – the Wait Chapel located on the Wake Forest campus. As with Louisville, each student was called up individually to the front stage and helped on with their new white coat by a professor. After the last student received his coat, the students were celebrated with a standing ovation from the capacity crowd.
As a special treat, each student found a personalized letter in the pocket of their jacket. The letter, from a Wake Forest alumnus, shared the story of his or her own medical career and their time at Wake Forest as well as their careers after leaving medical school. Many offered advice and a welcome into the world of medicine. Leigh Anne noted that “it made us feel like we finally were a part of the medical community!
EVAN MERCER – An auditorium at the Vanderbilt medical school was the site of its white coat ceremony. Just prior to the ceremony, parents were invited to an hour-long orientation during which professors talked about what to expect over the next four years. Covering topics ranging from diversity to mental health, the professors assured parents that every student had the makings to be successful and well as offering tips on how to handle those frantic calls home mourning a “less than optimal” test score.
Dr. Bonnie Miller offered these words of advice to the class of 2022. “White coats should not feel airy and light. They have no magical powers. They will not instantly transform you. You will in fact be transformed over the coming years, but that will result from your own hard work and your travels alongside the essence of life, illness, love and death.”
As each student’s name was called, along with their undergraduate college and major, he or she headed to the podium. A member of the faculty helped them into their white coat and offered a hand shake. Evan observed that “when I put on that white coat for the first time, it kicked in that this is what I would be doing for the rest of my life.”
In the pocket of each jacket were the names of the donors who provided the jackets. Blank thank you notes were also provided to each student (a not-so-subtle nod telling them to remember their manners). As the ceremony concluded, the students, along with their advisory college mentors, recited an oath modified from one developed by the University of Namibia School of Medicine.
NEXT UP: ANATOMY LAB