First-Year Medical Students Celebrate the 11th Annual White Coat Ceremony
Anna Strongin
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November 1st, 2007 marked a milestone in the lives of yet another class of first year medical students. It was the 11th annual White Coat Ceremony, an event that symbolizes the students’ entry into the medical profession.
In addition to the 162 white coat recipients themselves, the MSTF auditorium filled up with family members, second year medical students, and many members of the faculty.
“Over the last few years, the attendance of the faculty has increased,” noted Dr. Larry Anderson, a professor in the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology and the director of Structure & Development, the very first medical school course that students need to complete before receiving their white coats.
“I like that because it makes the students realize that they are becoming a part of the [medical family] and that they have been accepted into it,” he continued, emphasizing the importance of the large faculty presence at the event.
The faculty involvement, however, went beyond attendance at the White Coat Ceremony.
In the morning, as part of Medical Family Day, both faculty and students were active participants in a panel that helped familiarize family members with what it means to be a medical student. The panel was comprised of Yvonne Pierpont, a fourth-year medical student; Dr. Gina Perez-Madrinan, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry; Dr. Joseph Martinez, assistant dean for Student Affairs and an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine; and Barbara Friedman, mother of a fourth-year medical student and co-chair of the Medical Family Annual Fund.
And at 1:00 p.m., families were joined by the first-year students themselves, ready to receive their white coats and to embark on their journey toward becoming physicians.
Following opening remarks by Dean E. Albert Reece, Pierpont talked about receiving her own white coat and the significance of this event in the life of the medical student, and Dr. Richard Colgan, an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Director of Undergraduate Education in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, spoke poignantly about what it means to be a physician and the importance of focusing on the patient.
“You don’t all of a sudden become a doctor when you get your diploma, nor when you complete residency or board certification. It starts now,” Colgan noted, underscoring the importance of this day.
“Each and every time you put your white coat on, I challenge you to remember that you are making a difference in the lives of people …Imagine the possibilities of what you can do in your white coat – they are endless,” he reminded the audience.
And his words definitely resonated with the students.
“At the start of the ceremony, I did not think of it as a very big deal,” said first year medical student, Jessica Shiu, “but as the ceremony went on and I listened to the speakers’ words, I began to really feel the significance of this day and to get more and more excited at the prospect of becoming a part of the medical profession.”