How important is the white coat ceremony?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Por que no los dos?

All joking aside, if I had to choose, I would probably attend the wedding if the participants are indeed my very good friends. I do not have many very good friends, so I treasure the ones I have.
 
Agreed, I'd say go to the wedding (if it really is a "very good" friend as you mentioned). My white coat ceremony was more for show than anything else, I got some nice pictures out of it. I look better in a tux 😉
 
operaman said:
Yeah both are pretty important, but I'd probably go to the wedding too.

Unless you're 100% positive this one won't last and they will be getting remarried within 2-3 years, in which case you could just tell your friend you'll catch the next one.
Click to expand...
I dunno, if it's open bar I would still go to the wedding.
 
noolsy said:
Hypothetically, the WCC and your very good friends' wedding is on the same day. Which one do you attend?
Click to expand...
Wedding by far. The white coat "ceremony" is stupid and a waste of time. If it was actually your graduation from med school, well then that might be a different story.

the argus said:
Imagine the least important thing you can think of, and then place the white coat ceremony below that in terms of importance.
Click to expand...
amazing, could not agree more.
 
I never went to white coat ceremony. A bunch of ******ed kids thinking they achieved doctor status and taking pics and thinking this is the best day of their lives and they have achieved goals or some stupid crap. No you idiots, you aren't doctors.

I don't want to sit through 2 hours of corny speeches, then however long it takes for them to call everyones name and let them put on their coat on stage and take pictures. I don't want to meet your family members and make small talk. I also, don't want to recite your stupid oath.
 
My vote for wedding. The white coat ceremony at my school was nothing special to be honest. I don't even remember most of it...only that it was uncomfortable and awkward.

To share an amazing life event with good friends is something truly special, and far more meaningful.
 
Last edited:
Troll-Like-Receptor said:
I never went to white coat ceremony. A bunch of ******ed kids thinking they achieved doctor status and taking pics and thinking this is the best day of their lives and they have achieved goals or some stupid crap. No you idiots, you aren't doctors.

I don't want to sit through 2 hours of corny speeches, then however long it takes for them to call everyones name and let them put on their coat on stage and take pictures. I don't want to meet your family members and make small talk. I also, don't want to recite your stupid oath.
Click to expand...

This was exactly how mine was, it was actually embarrassing. Literally a celebration over nothing.

Also what an amazing nickname.
 
I would go white coat. Not that the wedding isn't important, but I thought our WCC was really special and its something you really only get to have once (I mean until you get to M3). Plus, our WCC was only 2 hours max. You could very easily attend white coat and then go to the wedding reception. A true friend wouldn't hold that against you.
 
SoSimplyKari said:
I would go white coat. Not that the wedding isn't important, but I thought our WCC was really special and its something you really only get to have once (I mean until you get to M3). Plus, our WCC was only 2 hours max. You could very easily attend white coat and then go to the wedding reception. A true friend wouldn't hold that against you.
Click to expand...

The wedding of a close friend is also special and I'm sure that the friend is only planning on it happening once. I think most of us assumed that distance would make going to both impossible. (If not, why would OP have asked?)

In the grand scheme of medical school events, the white coat ceremony is a non-event. It made me feel pretty darn special as a new MS1, but celebrating a life event with a close friend trumps that. Match Day or graduation is a different story.
 
Step 1) get a doctors note excusing you from WCC for severe gastroenteritis with diarrhea and vomiting. Profuse diarrhea requiring you to be incapacitated in the bathroom.
Step 2: go to wedding.
Be explicit in the note. It makes it awkward for them and they won't even try to argue the why.
 
SouthernSurgeon said:
There's mandatory and then there's "mandatory"

Obviously OP should discuss with the school, but I have a hard time imagining they wouldn't be understanding.

Wedding is the clear choice.
Click to expand...

I have something like this for the ER, there's "You're having a heart attack, we'll have you in the Cath Lab soon" dying, and then there is the " Oh ****, three gunshot wounds and he's bleeding out, take him to the OR now" dying.
 
Tired said:
On the long list of things that nearly convinced me to drop out of medical school, the "white coat ceremony" is definitely top 10.

Ostensibly it is a celebration of nothing; a ceremony to announce to the world that have acquired a cheap white jacket that doesn't match anything in your wardrobe, and only looks good on a fashion model who is wearing nothing else. Got a big rack? Sorry, it's shapeless up high. Got a big butt? Don't worry, we'll show that off with an ill-placed cut in the back will allow the small tails to rest comfortably on the top of your McDonald's storage unit. Got neither? Cool, because the coat will flap aimlessly in the breeze, giving the appearance of a cape that you have secured in front.

The families seemed to love it, though I think even they feel confused about why. I have to imagine that the Deans of the school sit there giggling to each other, since in many ways it's little more than a big middle finger to every parent shelling out six figures for their long-since-grown offspring to continue their education with the prospect of a livable wage still a decade away.

But worst of all is the subtext that continues the full-force push to get everyone to join the ranks of primary care. Primary care is everything. It is the only true medicine. If only every primary care physician could spend an hour with each patient explaining the importance of eating squash instead of fries, we would have no need for those useless surgeons. Every doctor should be in primary care, and every doctor should take care of all patients without regard for money. All health care should be free. It's a human right. Now everyone recite an oath that some guy made up last year, because the original Hippocratic oath doesn't actually make sense.

Not that any of it works. Even the handful of students who initially think of it as meaningful quickly recognize the silliness of the whole thing. By the end, families are asking their student offspring what the purpose of that whole thing was. And it recruits nobody to primary care; those who beat up on Step 1 quickly retreat to the land of procedures and money.
Click to expand...
Hmmm..... Have you considered a shrink? Lol.
 
Tired said:
On the long list of things that nearly convinced me to drop out of medical school, the "white coat ceremony" is definitely top 10.

Ostensibly it is a celebration of nothing; a ceremony to announce to the world that have acquired a cheap white jacket that doesn't match anything in your wardrobe, and only looks good on a fashion model who is wearing nothing else. Got a big rack? Sorry, it's shapeless up high. Got a big butt? Don't worry, we'll show that off with an ill-placed cut in the back will allow the small tails to rest comfortably on the top of your McDonald's storage unit. Got neither? Cool, because the coat will flap aimlessly in the breeze, giving the appearance of a cape that you have secured in front.

The families seemed to love it, though I think even they feel confused about why. I have to imagine that the Deans of the school sit there giggling to each other, since in many ways it's little more than a big middle finger to every parent shelling out six figures for their long-since-grown offspring to continue their education with the prospect of a livable wage still a decade away.

But worst of all is the subtext that continues the full-force push to get everyone to join the ranks of primary care. Primary care is everything. It is the only true medicine. If only every primary care physician could spend an hour with each patient explaining the importance of eating squash instead of fries, we would have no need for those useless surgeons. Every doctor should be in primary care, and every doctor should take care of all patients without regard for money. All health care should be free. It's a human right. Now everyone recite an oath that some guy made up last year, because the original Hippocratic oath doesn't actually make sense.

Not that any of it works. Even the handful of students who initially think of it as meaningful quickly recognize the silliness of the whole thing. By the end, families are asking their student offspring what the purpose of that whole thing was. And it recruits nobody to primary care; those who beat up on Step 1 quickly retreat to the land of procedures and money.
Click to expand...
10/10

I am a huge proponent of bashing these WCCs, I dont know why I just hate them so much. Like Holden Caufield and phonies, nothing more fake.
 
I actually had a lot of fun at our white coat ceremony, but I'd go to the wedding instead if you can (get permission before skipping, obviously). I know I have one classmate who didn't go to ours for a family obligation and one who couldn't make it that day for religious reasons.
 
White coat vs wedding. Clear winner: wedding
White coat vs day at the beach. Clear winner: day at the beach
White coat vs Game of thrones marathon. Clear winner: Game of Thrones marathon
White coat vs reading a book. Clear winner: reading a book
 
White Coat Ceremonies are for the parents.

Troll-Like-Receptor said:
I never went to white coat ceremony. A bunch of ******ed kids thinking they achieved doctor status and taking pics and thinking this is the best day of their lives and they have achieved goals or some stupid crap. No you idiots, you aren't doctors.
Click to expand...

Objecting to the R word. Neither kind nor respectful to people with intellectual disabilities and also to your peers.
 
Troll-Like-Receptor said:
I never went to white coat ceremony. A bunch of ******ed kids thinking they achieved doctor status and taking pics and thinking this is the best day of their lives and they have achieved goals or some stupid crap. No you idiots, you aren't doctors.

I don't want to sit through 2 hours of corny speeches, then however long it takes for them to call everyones name and let them put on their coat on stage and take pictures. I don't want to meet your family members and make small talk. I also, don't want to recite your stupid oath.
Click to expand...
Then just don't go, no need to bash on people enjoying it. Are you one of those guys who goes to parties and mocks people drinking Bud Light for their poor tastes in beer instead of having a good time too?
 
Tired said:
But worst of all is the subtext that continues the full-force push to get everyone to join the ranks of primary care. Primary care is everything. It is the only true medicine.
Click to expand...

99% sure that primary care was never mentioned at my school's white coat ceremony. There was lots of talk about kindling the flame of knowledge, and keeping it forever burning.
 
...
 
Last edited:
Tired said:
Really? Wow, half of mine was an advertisement for the Department of Family Practice. Some speaker started talking about the Hippocratic Oath (the new one, not the original with the "I will not cut, even for the stone"), and how everyone in medicine had an obligation to be a part of their patient's lives, and empathy, and access to care, and on and on. None of it was surprising, since our school is very focused on social activism and rural primary care.

In retrospect, maybe not the ideal place for me to have attended, but everything worked out in the end so whatever.
Click to expand...

We didn't have a department of Family Practice, so that probably helped.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Gift for White Coat Ceremony?
Replies
14
Views
7K
AJS59
AJS59
C
How important is the interview really?
Replies
16
Views
2K
purpledoc1
purpledoc1
B
How Important Is Research for Residency? (My Experience Publishing 20+ Papers)
Replies
3
Views
2K
xDNA
xDNA
D
How important is it to do research during med school?
Replies
8
Views
3K
JuicedToTheSocks
J
D
how is this possible
Replies
7
Views
2K
MDMechEngr
MDMechEngr
Top