A Rite of Passage
Students Don White Coats for Entry into Med School

Following suit with more than 90 percent of America’s medical schools, Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Medical School at Houston recently held white-coat ceremonies to celebrate the entry of new stuents into medical school.

One hundred seventy-five first-year Baylor medical students experienced their rite of passage into the profession as the Class of 2006 took part in the annual ceremony Aug. 16.

The event, designed to nurture compassion and medical excellence in new students, was attended by more than 500 family members, friends, classmates and faculty. During the ceremony, each student donned the traditional white coat worn by health care professionals.

J. Clay Goodman, M.D., Baylor pathology professor, gave the keynote address titled, “Trust, Duty and Life (As in Get One).” Goodman shared the new responsibilities and life changes that occur as a result of donning the white coat.

“The ceremony really made me think about why I’m practicing medicine,” said student James Orengo, 22. “It’s all about helping others. I left the ceremony knowing all the responsibilities I need to keep in mind as I go through medical school.”

Donald T. Donovan, M.D., associate dean, administered the Oath of Hippocrates before inviting the students to don their white coats. The oath affirms each student’s commitment to the highest standards of ethics and patient care.

As is the tradition, each student also received a Baylor College of Medicine insignia patch for their new white coat from the college’s alumni affairs office.

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston held its white coat ceremony Aug. 14.

During the event, more than 200 students from the Class of 2006 also signed an ethical pledge and took the traditional oath. They then tried on their white coats with the UT-Houston seal for the first time.

Keynote speaker Oscar Rosales, M.D., encouraged the first-year medical students to act out of compassion for their patients – never just out of duty.

“The patient always comes first,” said Rosales, medical director of the Coronary Care Unit at Memorial Hermann Hospital and recipient of the 2002 Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey Award for Humanism in Medicine. “This is a commitment worth remembering every day. In times of fatigue and hardship, we must remember that the purpose of life is to serve other people.”

Rosales said physicians can learn from their patients and draw on their courage.

“A doctor’s title is attending physician, meaning we need to attend to the patient’s needs.”

L. Maximilian Buja, M.D., UT-Houston Medical School dean, said the white coat ceremony is an opportunity for faculty to welcome new students, enlist them as colleagues in the medical profession and challenge them to live up to the high standards of the doctor-patient relationship and service to the community.

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