White Coat Ceremony marks the beginning
For the 148 members of the UI Carver College of Medicine class of 2013, Aug. 21 marked an important milestone, the first of many on the road to becoming a physician.
The College’s 15th annual White Coat Ceremony, held at Macbride Hall on the UI Pentacrest, officially initiated class members into the formal study of medicine at Iowa. It was the final event of a week of orientation activities for members of the entering class and their families, spouses, partners and friends.
Dean Paul Rothman, MD, led the ceremony and was joined onstage by UI Provost Wallace Loh; Vice President for Medical Affairs Jean Robillard, MD; Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Curriculum Christopher Cooper, MD; Iowa Medical Society President Michael Kitchell, MD; and keynote speaker Richard Williams, MD, the Rubin H. Flocks Chair and professor and head of the UI Department of Urology.
Rothman noted the significance of the White Coat Ceremony in a medical student’s life, not just at Iowa but also at more than 100 medical schools around the country. The event serves as a symbolic rite of entry into the profession of medicine — one that acknowledges the hard work students perform in order to get to medical school as well as the students’ commitment to the challenges that lie ahead. “You stand here today at the beginning of your medical education, but it won’t end in four years, or seven years, or even after residency. It continues every day of your career,” Rothman said.
During his remarks, Rothman also recognized a group of fourth-year students who were selected recently for membership in the Gold Humanism Honor Society, a national honor society that celebrates medical students who are chosen by classmates, faculty and staff for their compassion, caring and dedication. “These students certainly will serve as role models over the coming year,” he said.
In his keynote address, Williams noted that wearing the white coat means both great opportunities and great responsibilities. “Student physicians, you are about to embark on a fantastic voyage that will allow you to become a physician and a full member of an honored profession,” he said. “Make no mistake that while sometimes we are led to believe that the American people are dubious about ‘doctors’ in general, they very highly respect and appreciate their own personal physician.”
Williams also addressed health care reform, noting that responsible action by patients, physicians, lawmakers, health insurance companies and industry hopefully will lead to workable solutions. “The most important point, however, is that as American health care changes, the basic fundamental principles of why we wear the white coat and became physicians will not change — we are there to provide competent and compassionate care to our patients.”
Following Williams’ speech, each member of the class of 2013 was called to the stage to ceremonially don her or his white coat and receive congratulations from the assembled dignitaries. The ceremony culminated in the students reciting the Oath of Hippocrates, led by Rothman:
I do solemnly swear by that which I hold most sacred;
That I will be loyal to the profession of medicine and just and generous to all;
That I will lead my life and practice my art in uprightness and honor;
That into whatsoever house I shall enter, it shall be for the good of the sick to the utmost of my power, I, holding myself aloof from wrong, from corruption, and from the temptation of others to vice;
That I will exercise my art solely for the cure of my patients, and will give no drug, perform no operation for a criminal purpose, even if solicited, and far less suggest such a thing;
That whatsoever I shall see or hear of the lives of others which is not fitting to be spoken, I will keep inviolably secret;
These things I do I promise, and in proportion as I am faithful to this, my oath, may happiness and good repute be ever mine — the opposite if I shall be foresworn.