white coat ceremonies

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cbrons

cbrons

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hey does anyone find these in poor taste? does anyone agree with me? discuss.

[4:37pm] <Kaus-Work> wow
[4:37pm] <Kaus-Work> Does that school do anything normal?
[4:37pm] <Kaus-Work> :p
[4:37pm] <@cb> white coat ceremonies seem kind of stupid and in poor taste IMO
[4:37pm] <@cb> they are for people
[4:38pm] <Kaus-Work> I'm not gonna argue against that
[4:38pm] <@cb> who wanna self congratulate themselves before they do anything worthy of commendation
[4:38pm] <Kaus-Work> it's for parents to show off their kiddos
[4:38pm] <@cb> thats pathetic
[4:38pm] <Kaus-Work> Yeah, I kinda wish I could call in sick...
[4:38pm] <@cb> seriously its kind of embarrassing
[4:38pm] <@cb> they are having a celebration
[4:38pm] <@cb> before U even do anything?????
[4:38pm] <@cb> LOL
[4:38pm] <@cb> before u even take 1 class???? before u even pickup a pencil?
[4:39pm] <@cb> hahahahaha
[4:39pm] <@cb> Ur money just barely arrived in their bank account and they already wanna throw u a party
[4:39pm] <@cb> hahahahahahahaha
[4:39pm] <@cb> LOL!!!!!
[4:49pm] <@cb> seriously tho
[4:49pm] <@cb> they wanna award you
[4:49pm] <@cb> for just showing up???
[4:49pm] <@cb> for doing nothing?
[4:49pm] <@cb> for putting your butt in a chair
[4:49pm] <@cb> ???
[4:49pm] <@cb> LOL
[4:49pm] <@cb> hahahahaha
[4:58pm] <@cb> h`ahahahahaha
[4:58pm] <@cb> white coat ceremony
[4:58pm] <@cb> seriously it cracks me up im sorry
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Nah... I don't think they are in poor taste.

The ceremony marks your beginning as a medical student and to a life of medicine.
 
Pharmacy, optometry, dentistry, and audiology schools also have white coat ceremonies. Methinks it's for the ego.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
CodeBlu said:
Nah... I don't think they are in poor taste.

The ceremony marks your beginning as a medical student and to a life of medicine.
Click to expand...
Of which 5-10% don't even finish? I think its a joke. The point of it mainly though is for your parents in hope of mustering up some donations.
 
cbrons said:
I knew BowTie would agree with me... :thumbup:
Click to expand...

If you don't like it - don't go to it. Just don't whine and ruin it for other people. Also, cbrons where are you going next year? CCOM?
 
It's a "congrats on making it here, you're about to start a new life, now say by to your parents until Xmas"

We had beginning of college assembly thing too for undergrad. It was all 7000 freshmen so it's not like they read all our names but it was just kind of a welcome to the school thing. I think med school does white coat for the same reason. Plus mommy and daddy can take pictures of you in the white coat that means so much to them and so little to anyone in the hospital. haha
 
cbrons said:
no I am not going to CCOM.... :confused: or any other DO school for that matter
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Ah, I assumed cause I interviewed with you at CCOM in September. Needless to say, looking through your post history, I'm not surprised by what I see.

Good luck in medical school!
 
I really don't understand why it's in poor taste. You're embarking upon a journey and making a commitment to your patients. It's a rite of passage, not an award.
 
doxycycline said:
tradition? whats the big f'n deal
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Obviously Cbrons is superior to the rest of his medical class and doesn't feel the need to have such a gratuitous celebration. /sarcasm

btw, sorry if I creeped you out Cbrons, You're kinda famous hard not to remember meeting an e-celebrity :p
 
Last edited:
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Huh? How is a white coat ceremony in any way in poor taste? It's a tradition and a rite of passage. Sure it may feel a bit artificial, but ritual and ceremony are ever present in most facets of our lives (whether or not you're religious). It's a way to welcome you to medical school, which is a tough and arduous journey.
 
white coat ceremonies were a waste of time. I still remember mine, everyone was so excited and thought they graduated medical school or something and partied the hardest they ever did that night.
 
cbrons said:
hey does anyone find these in poor taste? does anyone agree with me? discuss.

[4:37pm] <Kaus-Work> wow
[4:37pm] <Kaus-Work> Does that school do anything normal?
[4:37pm] <Kaus-Work> :p
[4:37pm] <@cb> white coat ceremonies seem kind of stupid and in poor taste IMO
[4:37pm] <@cb> they are for people
[4:38pm] <Kaus-Work> I'm not gonna argue against that
[4:38pm] <@cb> who wanna self congratulate themselves before they do anything worthy of commendation
[4:38pm] <Kaus-Work> it's for parents to show off their kiddos
[4:38pm] <@cb> thats pathetic
[4:38pm] <Kaus-Work> Yeah, I kinda wish I could call in sick...
[4:38pm] <@cb> seriously its kind of embarrassing
[4:38pm] <@cb> they are having a celebration
[4:38pm] <@cb> before U even do anything?????
[4:38pm] <@cb> LOL
[4:38pm] <@cb> before u even take 1 class???? before u even pickup a pencil?
[4:39pm] <@cb> hahahahaha
[4:39pm] <@cb> Ur money just barely arrived in their bank account and they already wanna throw u a party
[4:39pm] <@cb> hahahahahahahaha
[4:39pm] <@cb> LOL!!!!!
[4:49pm] <@cb> seriously tho
[4:49pm] <@cb> they wanna award you
[4:49pm] <@cb> for just showing up???
[4:49pm] <@cb> for doing nothing?
[4:49pm] <@cb> for putting your butt in a chair
[4:49pm] <@cb> ???
[4:49pm] <@cb> LOL
[4:49pm] <@cb> hahahahaha
[4:58pm] <@cb> h`ahahahahaha
[4:58pm] <@cb> white coat ceremony
[4:58pm] <@cb> seriously it cracks me up im sorry
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why, but everyone on this forum is so concerned with what other people are thinking and doing. Who cares if your friend on MSN chat thinks? What does her opinion mean? You'd probably find a lot of things in her life to be a joke as well...it doesn't matter.

Focus on yourself, ignore the rest, and be successful
 
Elbowstoopointy said:
I'm not sure why, but everyone on this forum is so concerned with what other people are thinking and doing. Who cares if your friend on MSN chat thinks? What does her opinion mean? You'd probably find a lot of things in her life to be a joke as well...it doesn't matter.

Focus on yourself, ignore the rest, and be successful
Click to expand...

Look at them though, having a chat with eachother talking about how lame others are to have this ceremony for parents to "show off their kiddos" they're so cool.

ITT: People who think they're too good for the White Coat Ceremony and want everyone else to know.
 
Poor taste? I don't really see how you come to that conclusion, but I do think it's pretty ridiculous to celebrate the sign of your servility and ignorance.
 
I don't think their a bad idea, seems like a good way to remind us that society will forever hold us to higher standards and its a fun photo op for people we might not get to see that much anymore (parents/grandparents/etc).

Didnt you all have some sort of big pep rally and speech at the beginning of college?
 
It is a tradition that isn't that old.......

I don't really get the point of the ceremony. My induction into the world of medicine was a stack of books and a dead body. The white coat is just a few extra pockets to keep my crap and a convenient way to have anything that can stain within a 15 foot radius go straight at me.
 
DrBowtie said:
LOL at people thinking the white coat, especially the short white coat is meaningful anymore. Everyone wears one.
Click to expand...

This is why it kind of bugs me...oh, med students are doing a short white coat ceremony? Let's do one too! Community college nursing students wear white coats. My dad dispenses hearing aids and ordered a white coat out of a catalog.

I'm just excited to start school.
 
startswithb said:
This is why it kind of bugs me...oh, med students are doing a short white coat ceremony? Let's do one too! Community college nursing students wear white coats. My dad dispenses hearing aids and ordered a white coat out of a catalog.

I'm just excited to start school.
Click to expand...

It's not about the white coat - it's about the sense of community that's formed between students and a celebration of all the hard work they put in to get accepted to MD school, people just want to celebrate that.

As I've said before - if you don't like that, then ride away on your high horse. If you want to make a lot of friends I recommend you tell them your feelings about these thoughts when you go to the ceremony in the fall.
 
DrBowtie said:
LOL at people thinking the white coat, especially the short white coat is meaningful anymore. Everyone wears one.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's the point though. The OP thinks that it's in poor taste... pointless perhaps yes, and misleading in terms of your position, but not really in poor taste.

Either way I never had an issue with it. Might as well celebrate something about the hell of the next 4 years.
 
See, I heard that when Colubia started this it was supposed to be a ceremony for the transition to third year, and was meant to both congratulate you on passing preclinicals and to impress upon you that, as lowly as a medical student's role may be, once you put on the white coat the patients are real and your actions do count for something. Unfortunately that modestly meaningful ceremony only lasted about a year, because of course every school has some half assed pointless 'clinical contact' hours during preclinicals, so to keep the ceremony from devaluing thosehours it was pushed back to the start of first year. Maybe its just an internet rumor but even if it is I agree thatt it should be at the start of third year. Having something that looks sort of like a graduation before you've taken a class just seems sort of pretnetious

BTW, hate to tell you guys, but things that started in 1993 are getting old enough to be considered a tradition. As a rule, if there are Marines in Iraq that weren't born when something happened, its old enough.
 
Perrotfish said:
See, I heard that when Colubia started this it was supposed to be a ceremony for the transition to third year, and was meant to both congratulate you on passing preclinicals and to impress upon you that, as lowly as a medical student's role may be, once you put on the white coat the patients are real and your actions do count for something. Unfortunately that modestly meaningful ceremony only lasted about a year, because of course every school has some half assed pointless 'clinical contact' hours during preclinicals, so to keep the ceremony from devaluing thosehours it was pushed back to the start of first year. Maybe its just an internet rumor but even if it is I agree thatt it should be at the start of third year. Having something that looks sort of like a graduation before you've taken a class just seems sort of pretnetious

BTW, hate to tell you guys, but things that started in 1993 are getting old enough to be considered a tradition. As a rule, if there are Marines in Iraq that weren't born when something happened, its old enough.
Click to expand...

Just fyi, I don't want to attend my white coat ceremony, mostly because I'm not one for ceremony and it seems awfully boring. Plus, the only person in my family coming is my brother, so that tells you how important it is to me.

That being said, it doesn't give me the right to judge anyone else for wanting to attend.

Also, I love NPH, he is a god. You get 45 points for your avatar, at 1000 points you get an interpretive dance about the origin of generic butter.
 
It is an initiation process, a way to symbolically confirm the great journey you are beginning. Most importantly, it is to soften the hellish and deadly blow which is the beginning of M1:laugh: (the entrance to the long dark tunnel)...hope you brought a good flashlight
 
And I Was Like said:
Just fyi, I don't want to attend my white coat ceremony, mostly because I'm not one for ceremony and it seems awfully boring. Plus, the only person in my family coming is my brother, so that tells you how important it is to me.

That being said, it doesn't give me the right to judge anyone else for wanting to attend.

Also, I love NPH, he is a god. You get 45 points for your avatar, at 1000 points you get an interpretive dance about the origin of generic butter.
Click to expand...

I recall there being a thread about this way back in the day, but it amounted to the same thing... not attending "on principle" doesn't make you cool or unique. It just looks pretentious to everyone else. If you don't care, that's fine, but just letting you know... I know people who've tried this personally, and that was essentially what everyone thought.
 
ArcGurren said:
I recall there being a thread about this way back in the day, but it amounted to the same thing... not attending "on principle" doesn't make you cool or unique. It just looks pretentious to everyone else. If you don't care, that's fine, but just letting you know... I know people who've tried this personally, and that was essentially what everyone thought.
Click to expand...

No, no, no, I'm going, and this is just on the internet anonymously, my point was exactly that. I don't want to go, and only my brother is even going to be there to watch me, but I'm going because I have to spend the next 4 years with these people and the last thing I want them to think is I'm too good for the ceremony. *hint hint* Cbrons/bowtie
 
ArcGurren said:
Huh? How is a white coat ceremony in any way in poor taste? It's a tradition and a rite of passage. Sure it may feel a bit artificial, but ritual and ceremony are ever present in most facets of our lives (whether or not you're religious). It's a way to welcome you to medical school, which is a tough and arduous journey.
Click to expand...

You have to understand, there are certain people who secretly have such a big ego about being a med student that they start these ridiculous posts to deny it. It's kind of like the girl who's 90 pounds soaking wet and walks around saying "I'm fat" all day long or the guy who rallies against gay couples while going home to his gay lover.
 
MedStudentWanna said:
You have to understand, there are certain people who secretly have such a big ego about being a med student that they start these ridiculous posts to deny it. It's kind of like the girl who's 90 pounds soaking wet and walks around saying "I'm fat" all day long or the guy who rallies against gay couples while going home to his gay lover.
Click to expand...

We call these people Baptist Pastors.
 
[8:37pm] <Kaus-Work> wow
[8:37pm] <Kaus-Work> did you see those losers on sdn
[8:37pm] <Kaus-Work> :p
[8:37pm] <@cb> who, the mods?
[8:37pm] <@cb> they do some useful stuff now and then
[8:38pm] <Kaus-Work> I'm not gonna argue against that. i was talking about you, cbronz, and me, dr.bowtie
[8:38pm] <@cb> PS i suck at life
[8:38pm] <Kaus-Work> LOL me 2
[8:38pm] <@cb> thats pathetic
[8:38pm] <Kaus-Work> Yeah, I kinda wish I could call in sick...
[8:38pm] <@cb> seriously its kind of embarrassing
[8:38pm] <@cb> they are having a celebration
[8:38pm] <@cb> and here i am wasting my life talking to you
 
Given distance and other circumstances I don't expect to have any family or friends at my White Coat Ceremony this year. That is okay. I worked hard to get into med school and I am excited to get started. I don't see anything wrong with a little ceremony.
 
And I Was Like said:
No, no, no, I'm going, and this is just on the internet anonymously, my point was exactly that. I don't want to go, and only my brother is even going to be there to watch me, but I'm going because I have to spend the next 4 years with these people and the last thing I want them to think is I'm too good for the ceremony. *hint hint* Cbrons/bowtie
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong I attended mine, but I really didn't see the point of the pomp and circumstance on getting through the admissions process. Its not THAT hard to get in somewhere.
 
DrBowtie said:
Don't get me wrong I attended mine, but I really didn't see the point of the pomp and circumstance on getting through the admissions process. Its not THAT hard to get in somewhere.
Click to expand...

I don't think I need to say anything else, my point is now proven. :D
 
DrBowtie said:
Don't get me wrong I attended mine, but I really didn't see the point of the pomp and circumstance on getting through the admissions process. Its not THAT hard to get in somewhere.
Click to expand...

DrBowtie you remind me of someone I know who, coincidentally, also has a thing for bowties. Isn't putting on a bowtie somewhat ceremonious also? :p
 
It is more appropriate at the end of M2 s/p Step 1. Slaying that beast is worthy of celebration and marks the real transition into acting like a doctor daily.
 
My school actually fitted us for our white coats on interview day before we got accepted. It was a little odd.
 
I personally think it's a little much as well. Why are we we celebrating before we even do anything? I'm still super excited for mine though:D Can't wait to put on that little white coat!
 
This is a direct quote from the orientation materials for the school that I will begin attending this fall:

"At , *** we receive our white coats as first year medical students to emphasize our commitment to our profession, our colleagues, and the *** Honor Code, rather than as a congratulatory gesture for getting into med school. It is truly your first step toward becoming a medical professional, and as such, attendance is limited to members of the class."

I'm a bit disappointed that my wife won't be able to attend, but I think the limited attendance sums up what a white coat ceremony should really be about.
 
DrBowtie said:
It is more appropriate at the end of M2 s/p Step 1. Slaying that beast is worthy of celebration and marks the real transition into acting like a doctor daily.
Click to expand...

We do ours at the beginning of M2.

But I was talking one of our deans (I was mildly complaining about how they want us to wear white coats for certain things, i.e. preceptorship, yet how I was being cheap and didn't want to spend money on a coat that I knew I would get for free eventually). Anyway, he said that if he had his way, he would not do the ceremony until after M2 before rotations start for M3. Said that it should be more symbolic of finishing your book knowledge and progressing into the clinical experience and knowledge.
 
demh23 said:
[8:37pm] <Kaus-Work> wow
[8:37pm] <Kaus-Work> did you see those losers on sdn
[8:37pm] <Kaus-Work> :p
[8:37pm] <@cb> who, the mods?
[8:37pm] <@cb> they do some useful stuff now and then
[8:38pm] <Kaus-Work> I'm not gonna argue against that. i was talking about you, cbronz, and me, dr.bowtie
[8:38pm] <@cb> PS i suck at life
[8:38pm] <Kaus-Work> LOL me 2
[8:38pm] <@cb> thats pathetic
[8:38pm] <Kaus-Work> Yeah, I kinda wish I could call in sick...
[8:38pm] <@cb> seriously its kind of embarrassing
[8:38pm] <@cb> they are having a celebration
[8:38pm] <@cb> and here i am wasting my life talking to you
Click to expand...
wow. An hSDNr trying to be clever. :thumbdown:

I have to agree with Dr.BowTie... it does seem like that. I'm going to it, but it doesn't really feel significant considering you're not really anything. :laugh:
 
People like to bash it but I bet, in private, most of you are secretly excited about it. Even if just a little. I'll admit that I am.

Don't pretend that you're all already grizzled and jaded veterans that have the perspective to see how little this means in the scheme of things. You aren't, that's the whole point. Take time to enjoy the steps along the way -- this is a long road and we should all appreciate the little boosts like this now and then.
 
I'm personally against the idea of a white coat ceremony at the beginning of medical school (it is a bit too self-congratulatory). I wish I could skip mine coming up in a few short weeks, but I believe it's mandatory.

A white coat ceremony after Step 1/second year, marking the transition from the classroom to the hospital makes a lot more sense to me. At that point, you have actually accomplished something worth celebrating.
 
I think it is better to have at the end of 2nd year. But it doesnt really matter since the majority of the class makes it to the end anyways. My school has it almost at the end of first semester. So at least we will have some tests under our belt and have a feel for schooling, etc...
 
Meh, I don't think it's "in poor taste" (don't really get that), it's just corny. I'm generally not into those sorts of rituals though. I skipped my undergrad and graduate school graduation ceremonies. I don't need to walk across a stage in a dress to feel like I accomplished something, ya know?
 
I am going and I am actually excited and looking forward to it. I did not go to my high school graduation for i did not see it as an achievement. I saw high school as doing what people my age was supposed to do. Now I regret it. I wish i had gone.
 
why can't they just mail the white coat and have us sign the oath/pledge when we turned in our immunization?
 
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