Charlie White Coat
Over Winter Break, I plan on catching up on the blog a little bit. In doing so, I will try to hit some of the highlights of the past four months which for one reason or another…mainly because I was busy studying…I did not find time to write about. What is probably the greatest shame is the fact that I did not post about White Coat Ceremony when it occurred.
The White Coat Ceremony is a fairly common occurrence at medical schools these days, and with good reason. Although the sheer magnitude of coursework does serve as its own reminder that one is in medical school, it does not serve to remind the medical student of the professional responsibilities associated with entering the field. One thing that does jump out as a symbol of that professional responsibility is the white coat itself.
Although the short white coat of a medical student does stand out among the longer coats of the doctors of the physician, to the average person coming through the hospital it may not even register that there is a difference. By wearing a white coat, a medical student shoulders a great amount of responsibility, especially on the grounds of the hospital where any patient might not be able to tell the difference. He or she may not be able to do much with regard to treating illness, taking a physical exam…or even very much of a history (I’m still stumbling through my review of systems), but in professional clinical attire the student represent the hospital as much as anyone else in a coat or a pair of scrubs.
The White Coat Ceremony is a relatively new institution in medical schools as they have begun challenging their first year students to start thinking about professionalism from day one. The actual ceremony usually takes place about a month into the first semester, to give students time to reflect on the responsibility that they are about to take on. At my medical school, one exercise they put us through was to have our class actually write the oath that we took after accepting our white coat.
Our actual ceremony happened shortly after labor day. We had finished our second test and completed the first fundamentals module. The ceremony was planned during the college’s Parent’s Day with other activities occurring around the campus. I believe the PA students also received their coats that day. Earlier today I happened to drive by the church where the ceremony was held as the medical school did not have an auditorium big enough for the class and families.
I was fortunate that my family could make it down. Wife and I were very happy to have my parents and my sister there for the big day. After a morning reception at school, I drug my folks over to a local burger joint where the staff had apparently gotten to know me well enough to start harassing me in front of my wife and family.
At the church that day, we were instructed to get in single file according to a number which was emailed to us earlier that week. I stood there for a few minutes before I realized that we were in alphabetical order much like our assigned anatomy groups, so I started introducing myself to the people ahead and behind me. The four of us have been working together once or twice a week since.
We filed in and took our seats. When my turn was up, I handed a card with a phonetic spelling of my name to the Associate Dean of Admissions, I walked across the red-carpeted stage, held out my left arm to be placed into the coat being held by the Vice Dean of Academic Affairs, got the coat around my right arm, straightened it and then shook hands with the Dean of the Medical School trying to face forward for any pictures that my family might have been taking at the time. I then walked down the center aisle back to my seat and then as professionally as possible, tried to take a picture of the embroidered names and sewn on patch with the logo of the college.
The names were mine and “School of Medicine”.
As I recall, the oath was administered after the coating. That was the only time that I saw the final draft. Perhaps once a little time passes, I’ll post it here. Following this, I believe that I was about to have a migraine from dehydration, so I actually bolted to the reception before most everyone else to grab a few diet cokes and a few waters as I didn’t know where to find any medicine at the time.
To cap off the day, my family ate at the small inn down the street from our little apartment. I believe that I had a steak, but I only remember this because I was insisting that we go to a steak house and the restaurant at the inn was the best compromise for everyone.
Since then, I’ve worn the coat a half dozen times. Some people have put logo buttons on them or sewn other patches on the sleeves signifying some other research lab. The second years also wear them but usually with a lab cheat sheet or a reference guide in the pocket, sometimes with their stethoscope tucked in the pocket instead of around the neck. Third and fourth year coats usually hang a little lower after the months of toting around the stethoscope along with other various reflex hammers, pen lights and some even oto/ophthlamoscopes. The neck and pockets have given in and sag under the weight of medical student clerkship.
At some point, this white coat will be shoved into the closet next to my robe from college graduation and my Hawaiian shirts and will probably be taken out for moves or when someone’s kid wants to dress up as a doctor for Halloween. Maybe I’ll hang it up at the office or God forbid someone future-me knows wants to go to medical school and is looking to me for guidance. I’ll pull it out and talk about responsibility and weight and ring around the collar. Then I’ll put it back up and show them the neat toys that doctors get to play wi….I mean use responsibly.
