White Coat Ceremony

[Psycho Doctor]

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So what's everyone's opinion of it?

I surprisingly found it to be a really emotional experience. When I really thought about the impact of what it symbolized I realized hey this is big time serious. I was no longer a college kid, trying to do my best and having fun living on my own. This is really serious stuff and every step could affect my future, and eventually everything I do, the choices I make can affect the outcome for my patients. I don't know...the impact of it hit me in a way I didn't expect to feel. Anyone else feel this way?

 

[Silverfix]

Wow, I'm moved by just reading your account of it.

Not really. 🙄

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I can't believe no one has a serious response to this, and yet people have read it. 🙁

 

[erin682]

I think my white coat ceremony was meaningful to me not so much because of the symbol of the coat but because it was meaningful to my family. It was one of the last times I saw my Grandfather and after his death in talking to his friends I found out how much he had talked about being there for the ceremony and how excited he had been about being able to go. So yeah for me the ceremony itself was a bit like graduation. Its an exciting idea but the ceremony ends up being a bit boring and anti-climatic. In retrospect though its been more meaningful.

 

[synapse lapse]

Oh PD, why must you overly dramatize everything, as if every event of life had some significant meaning. 🙄

 

[DrPharaohX]

So what's everyone's opinion of it?

I surprisingly found it to be a really emotional experience. When I really thought about the impact of what it symbolized I realized hey this is big time serious. I was no longer a college kid, trying to do my best and having fun living on my own. This is really serious stuff and every step could affect my future, and eventually everything I do, the choices I make can affect the outcome for my patients. I don't know...the impact of it hit me in a way I didn't expect to feel. Anyone else feel this way?

Are you at USF COM?

 

[Blake]

Touching... very touching. But no, I didn't feel this way, and I don't know any classmates who felt that way too. Oh noes, we're future bad doctors !1!1!1! 🙄

Stop overdramatizing. You're in med school finally, no need to play such a game. The adcoms may buy this, but your classmates and upperclassmen won't. Now if you were really being sincere, you wouldn't be gloating about it on a forum since modesty should be another of your qualities.

My 2 cents.

 

[Freakingzooming]

I think the hoopla is more for the parents and family of the students. Sorta a formal way to say this is what you're dropping 200 grand for.

I do like it though. Don't get me wrong. Mine doesn't occur until the beginning of October.

 

[labangel]

Nope, I really didn't get the seriousness of it all until a few months ago when I was in a store and someone had a health crisis...the store manager asked for any health professionals to come foward...and I was it. That's when I really came to understand that we have a certain level of responsibility at all times that no other profession has. (It all turned out okay in the end, but you better believe I was praying in my head the entire time.)

 

[aparecida]

Honestly, I think it's a bad idea for them to give us white coats when we haven't earned the authority they symbolize.

... well, you asked.

 

[DrYo12]

We had a Hippocratic Oath ceremony, but we didn't get the white coats. I didn't realize that there are different modern versions of the oath until we recited one that was different than the original.

At any rate, it is while I was saying those words that I realized what I was saying and what I was promising to do and it hit me that I was beginning something new and wonderful that I had worked hard to accomplish. What a load of responsibility, and yet, what a rush to be starting!

FINE! I'll go back to studying. 😡

 

[Buck Strong]

Honestly, I think it's a bad idea for them to give us white coats when we haven't earned the authority they symbolize.

... well, you asked.

Haha, trust me, the short white coat has nothing to do with symbolizing authority in the hospital. Just wait until third and fourth year, when everyone in the hospital knows what the short white coats mean. Nurses will pick on you just because they're having a bad day, surgery attendings will ignore you, except to say "hey! med student (who's name he definitely doesn't know)...go find me this patient's chart"...or "hey you, run this sample down to the lab". And as you're trying to get an H&P, patients will ask, "hey, when is the real doctor coming?", and "when am I going to get to see a doctor?". Honestly, the short white coat symbolizes nothing, except a step on the ladder...along with being scutted out: running around the hospital picking up x-rays, writing discharge summaries, holding a leg for 6 hours as the surgeon fixes stuff that you can't even see, getting pissed or pooped on during ob-gyn, etc. You'll think to yourself, man, I did 4 years of pre-med, got my 36 on the mcats, made it through anatomy, aced the boards, only to get stuck here holding this fat guy's leg up for 6 hours, and get yelled at by this dingus surgeon who doesn't know my name everytime i shake a bit...wow, how ****ty, hahaha. Have fun with it...learn from med school, put up with the scut, earn your respect...but don't take yourself too seriously and don't think that the short white coat, the hippocratic oath or the ceremony is "big time serious". The real "ceremony" initiating you into medicine comes much later, and usually at 3am when you least expect it, and when your actions aren't guided by some oath some dead guy once wrote. Then you'll know what a great profession you've entered into.

 

[Silverfix]

We had a Hippocratic Oath ceremony

We had one of those too. But I was dissapointed to see that they ammended the text. I didn't get to pledge my allegance to Apollo. And they took out the nepitism clause too (though I can tell you they follow that one for sure around here).


Ol' Hippocrates would be spinnin' in his grave. 😉

 

[Ypo.]

I surprisingly found it to be a really emotional experience.

I doubt anyone else is surprised.

 

[Arsenic]

We had a Hippocratic Oath ceremony, but we didn't get the white coats. I didn't realize that there are different modern versions of the oath until we recited one that was different than the original.

At any rate, it is while I was saying those words that I realized what I was saying and what I was promising to do and it hit me that I was beginning something new and wonderful that I had worked hard to accomplish. What a load of responsibility, and yet, what a rush to be starting!

FINE! I'll go back to studying. 😡

yeah, i think this is what PD was talking about, i kind of felt the same way when i said the oath but it really is a little anti-climactic because it feels like a graduation and you still have YEARS of med school left

 

[supereagles]

great post, the real joy of medicine lies further down the road. For me, the white coat ceromony was an over-dramatization of what lies ahead. Damn, I barely made it through the keynote speech.

Haha, trust me, the short white coat has nothing to do with symbolizing authority in the hospital. Just wait until third and fourth year, when everyone in the hospital knows what the short white coats mean. Nurses will pick on you just because they're having a bad day, surgery attendings will ignore you, except to say "hey! med student (who's name he definitely doesn't know)...go find me this patient's chart"...or "hey you, run this sample down to the lab". And as you're trying to get an H&P, patients will ask, "hey, when is the real doctor coming?", and "when am I going to get to see a doctor?". Honestly, the short white coat symbolizes nothing, except a step on the ladder...along with being scutted out: running around the hospital picking up x-rays, writing discharge summaries, holding a leg for 6 hours as the surgeon fixes stuff that you can't even see, getting pissed or pooped on during ob-gyn, etc. You'll think to yourself, man, I did 4 years of pre-med, got my 36 on the mcats, made it through anatomy, aced the boards, only to get stuck here holding this fat guy's leg up for 6 hours, and get yelled at by this dingus surgeon who doesn't know my name everytime i shake a bit...wow, how ****ty, hahaha. Have fun with it...learn from med school, put up with the scut, earn your respect...but don't take yourself too seriously and don't think that the short white coat, the hippocratic oath or the ceremony is "big time serious". The real "ceremony" initiating you into medicine comes much later, and usually at 3am when you least expect it, and when your actions aren't guided by some oath some dead guy once wrote. Then you'll know what a great profession you've entered into.

 

[cammy1313]

Honestly, I think it's a bad idea for them to give us white coats when we haven't earned the authority they symbolize.

... well, you asked.

I concur with aparecida. I mean, I almost shed a tear when I first tried a coat on for size. But the truth is that I really won't feel the weight of what it truly means until graduation.

 

[Medikit]

We don't have a white coat ceremony until the second year... yet I have a white coat that I wear once every two weeks. Go figure.

 

[Dr OCD]

thumbs up to the poster...i think you hit it head on 🙂

Haha, trust me, the short white coat has nothing to do with symbolizing authority in the hospital. Just wait until third and fourth year, when everyone in the hospital knows what the short white coats mean. Nurses will pick on you just because they're having a bad day, surgery attendings will ignore you, except to say "hey! med student (who's name he definitely doesn't know)...go find me this patient's chart"...or "hey you, run this sample down to the lab". And as you're trying to get an H&P, patients will ask, "hey, when is the real doctor coming?", and "when am I going to get to see a doctor?". Honestly, the short white coat symbolizes nothing, except a step on the ladder...along with being scutted out: running around the hospital picking up x-rays, writing discharge summaries, holding a leg for 6 hours as the surgeon fixes stuff that you can't even see, getting pissed or pooped on during ob-gyn, etc. You'll think to yourself, man, I did 4 years of pre-med, got my 36 on the mcats, made it through anatomy, aced the boards, only to get stuck here holding this fat guy's leg up for 6 hours, and get yelled at by this dingus surgeon who doesn't know my name everytime i shake a bit...wow, how ****ty, hahaha. Have fun with it...learn from med school, put up with the scut, earn your respect...but don't take yourself too seriously and don't think that the short white coat, the hippocratic oath or the ceremony is "big time serious". The real "ceremony" initiating you into medicine comes much later, and usually at 3am when you least expect it, and when your actions aren't guided by some oath some dead guy once wrote. Then you'll know what a great profession you've entered into.

 

[toofache32]

What a load of responsibility, and yet, what a rush to be starting!

Medicince is just a job like everything else. A white coat ceremony is just a bunch of people mental-masturbating and admiring yourself. It's just a job. The coolest job, but still just a job. At the end of the day we all just want to go home, sit on the couch, drink a beer and be left alone just like everyone else.

Nope, I really didn't get the seriousness of it all until a few months ago when I was in a store and someone had a health crisis...the store manager asked for any health professionals to come foward...and I was it. That's when I really came to understand that we have a certain level of responsibility at all times that no other profession has. (It all turned out okay in the end, but you better believe I was praying in my head the entire time.)

In this situation, you're still gonna just dial 911 just like everyone else. I sure as hell wouldn't let anyone know I'm a physician.

 

[getunconcsious]

In this situation, you're still gonna just dial 911 just like everyone else. I sure as hell wouldn't let anyone know I'm a physician.

HAHAHA, that's great. I was just thinking about saying something like that. I mean now I ACTUALLY don't know anything, but even if I was a PGY or something, I probably wouldn't step up to the plate. Who needs to the inconvenience? The ambulances are pretty quick now days...

 

[mustangsally65]

I'm looking forward to my white-coat ceremony with a lot of emotions. It'll be great for my parents of course, but it has a lot of meaning for myself as well. Taking the Hippocratic Oath is a symbol of the journey we are embarking upon, and to remind us of the responsibilities we are being given in our medical education.

I'm applying this year, so I'm not in med school yet. But I know the white-coat ceremony will probably bring me close to tears. So don't worry, PsychoDoc, you're not alone.

 

[toofache32]

Must be a chick thing.

 

[labangel]

In this situation, you're still gonna just dial 911 just like everyone else. I sure as hell wouldn't let anyone know I'm a physician.

It should go without saying that of course you call 911, BUT as a physician you have an ethical responsiblity that other professions don't have...you shouldn't stand there and not give CPR when you're certified or not help if someone's airway is compromised...in true emergencies sometimes ambulances aren't fast enough and you as a physician should feel a responsiblity to do something.

 

[Medic_9]

**Off Topic**

No offense to any MD or pre-md out there. But please keep up to date on your CPR (if not more). You'd be surprised at the horror stories out there that MD's have done to "help".

Just because you are an MD doesn't mean you remember your ER rotation 3 or more years later. And even so ER and the streets is totally different.

Biggest thing...Check for a pulse before starting CPR...and before you judge. IT'S HAPPENED.

And when the Paramedic asks what kind of Dr you are, it's not meant to be insulting. It's just so we know where you stand in relation to what you can do. No need for us trying to get a OBGYN to bag a patient.

We can't follow any orders you give us unless you are getting in the back of the bus and coming with us to the hospital (taken charge of the patient).

Sorry for the rant.

 

[synapse lapse]

I'm looking forward to my white-coat ceremony with a lot of emotions. It'll be great for my parents of course, but it has a lot of meaning for myself as well. Taking the Hippocratic Oath is a symbol of the journey we are embarking upon, and to remind us of the responsibilities we are being given in our medical education.

I'm applying this year, so I'm not in med school yet. But I know the white-coat ceremony will probably bring me close to tears. So don't worry, PsychoDoc, you're not alone.

Then there are those of us that think the Hippocratic oath is outdated and philosophically at odds with modern medicine, and should be eliminated as a component of the ceremony of becoming a physician. Our school gives us long white coats with our name embroidered, so I guess that's a little nicer.

 

[toofache32]

**Off Topic**

No offense to any MD or pre-md out there. But please keep up to date on your CPR (if not more). You'd be surprised at the horror stories out there that MD's have done to "help".

Just because you are an MD doesn't mean you remember your ER rotation 3 or more years later. And even so ER and the streets is totally different.

Biggest thing...Check for a pulse before starting CPR...and before you judge. IT'S HAPPENED.

And when the Paramedic asks what kind of Dr you are, it's not meant to be insulting. It's just so we know where you stand in relation to what you can do. No need for us trying to get a OBGYN to bag a patient.

We can't follow any orders you give us unless you are getting in the back of the bus and coming with us to the hospital (taken charge of the patient).

Sorry for the rant.

I agree. I guess that's what I was referring to. I'm not saying don't help, but don't think that you are a walking ER.

 

[WhoisJohnGalt]

I probably wouldn't step up to the plate. Who needs to the inconvenience? The ambulances are pretty quick now days...

I suspected this from your previous posts, but this really cements it-- YOU ARE IN THE WRONG PROFESSION. If saving lives is an "inconvenience" to you, save yourself the time, money, and GRIEF. You hate med school, you hate being a doctor. You really should just drop out, for your sake and the sake of your future patients.

 

[threemusketeers]

I suspected this from your previous posts, but this really cements it-- YOU ARE IN THE WRONG PROFESSION. If saving lives is an "inconvenience" to you, save yourself the time, money, and GRIEF. You hate med school, you hate being a doctor. You really should just drop out, for your sake and the sake of your future patients.

I have been wondering about the legal side of this issue. What kind of liabilities would you have for being a good samaritan? Could you be sued for negligence or malpractice?

 

[edved100]

I have been wondering about the legal side of this issue. What kind of liabilities would you have for being a good samaritan? Could you be sued for negligence or malpractice?

No liability, good samaritan law protects you.

 

[8744]

I thought our white coat ceremony was silly. A previous poster is correct. The whole thing is more for the parents. I started medical school at 37 so by that time I was far, far, beyond the parental validation thing.

Graduation, on the other hand, is pretty important. By that time you have actually done something to be proud of and the praise heaped upon you by the slate of distinguished speakers does not ring hollow like it does at the white coat ceremony.

Of course, your sense of accomplishment is short lived. As an intern it sometimes feels that you are back to square one. Initially it's like being a third year medical student all over again except this time you have a little responsibilty.

I also want to add that by the time you graduate, most people will have got most of the blind idealism out of their systems. Being a physician is pretty cool, no doubt about it, and you get a lot of respect from the public (even as an intern) but it is still just a job for most people. If you have an overly idealistic notion of the medical profession then you are going to be disappointed and severly disillusioned by the end of medical school. I used to think a lot more highly of physicians before I became one. Now that I've seen the medical profession from the inside, a view not usually seen by the public, I'm a little more realistic.

The hardest thing to accept as a physican are the limitiations of medicine. In first and second year of medical school you are indoctrinated to believe that disease is cut and dry, that every patient is going to present with the classical symptoms, and that the cure (or death) is inevitable. In reality, a lot of your patients will have confusing histories, non-contributory physical exams, and lab results which confound your suspected differential diagnosis.

Many of your patients will be deeply unsatisfied with your care even if you do everything right.

Sometimes I joke with my wife that I find her faith in modern medicine touching.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

Touching... very touching. But no, I didn't feel this way, and I don't know any classmates who felt that way too. Oh noes, we're future bad doctors !1!1!1! 🙄

Stop overdramatizing. You're in med school finally, no need to play such a game. The adcoms may buy this, but your classmates and upperclassmen won't. Now if you were really being sincere, you wouldn't be gloating about it on a forum since modesty should be another of your qualities.

My 2 cents.

huh????? who the heck is playing a game??? what the hell are you talking about? I am NOT gloating, I actually felt uncomfortable, scared and embarrassed that i felt the way i did. but thanks for projecting the way i felt

 

[Psycho Doctor]

We had a Hippocratic Oath ceremony, but we didn't get the white coats. I didn't realize that there are different modern versions of the oath until we recited one that was different than the original.

At any rate, it is while I was saying those words that I realized what I was saying and what I was promising to do and it hit me that I was beginning something new and wonderful that I had worked hard to accomplish. What a load of responsibility, and yet, what a rush to be starting!

FINE! I'll go back to studying. 😡

well we yhad to say the Hippocratic Oath at the White Coat ceremony and that's when i realized how serious this was, not b/c of the white coats. also my family thought it was so meaningful

 

[Psycho Doctor]

yeah, i think this is what PD was talking about, i kind of felt the same way when i said the oath but it really is a little anti-climactic because it feels like a graduation and you still have YEARS of med school left

yes, that's exactly right, thank you. And true I agree about the 4 years left. But the whole ceremony used to be done at graduation and then it was realized by Dr. Arnold P. Gold who initiated the white coat ceremony at Columbia P & S, that it was being done 4 years too late because the anyone going into the field of medicine needs to take the Hippocratic Oath when starting med school

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I'm looking forward to my white-coat ceremony with a lot of emotions. It'll be great for my parents of course, but it has a lot of meaning for myself as well. Taking the Hippocratic Oath is a symbol of the journey we are embarking upon, and to remind us of the responsibilities we are being given in our medical education.

I'm applying this year, so I'm not in med school yet. But I know the white-coat ceremony will probably bring me close to tears. So don't worry, PsychoDoc, you're not alone.

thank you 😍 that's exactly what i meant by the whole thing; glad someone actually takes this thing seriously and understands

 

[Psycho Doctor]

It should go without saying that of course you call 911, BUT as a physician you have an ethical responsiblity that other professions don't have...you shouldn't stand there and not give CPR when you're certified or not help if someone's airway is compromised...in true emergencies sometimes ambulances aren't fast enough and you as a physician should feel a responsiblity to do something.

good advice 👍

 

[Psycho Doctor]

Then there are those of us that think the Hippocratic oath is outdated and philosophically at odds with modern medicine, and should be eliminated as a component of the ceremony of becoming a physician. Our school gives us long white coats with our name embroidered, so I guess that's a little nicer.

it's not outdated; at least not the basic premise. Anyone in the healthcare field, doctors or otherwise (however doctors are ultimately responsible and accountable for their patients) needs to seriously realize that they must never ever do anything to harm their patient. The whole thing and it's meaning SHOULD be taken seriously.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I suspected this from your previous posts, but this really cements it-- YOU ARE IN THE WRONG PROFESSION. If saving lives is an "inconvenience" to you, save yourself the time, money, and GRIEF. You hate med school, you hate being a doctor. You really should just drop out, for your sake and the sake of your future patients.

i agree with you 100%, I can't stand this attitude and he doesn't belong within 100 feet of a patient. God, please help his poor patients.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I thought our white coat ceremony was silly. A previous poster is correct. The whole thing is more for the parents. I started medical school at 37 so by that time I was far, far, beyond the parental validation thing.

Graduation, on the other hand, is pretty important. By that time you have actually done something to be proud of and the praise heaped upon you by the slate of distinguished speakers does not ring hollow like it does at the white coat ceremony.

Of course, your sense of accomplishment is short lived. As an intern it sometimes feels that you are back to square one. Initially it's like being a third year medical student all over again except this time you have a little responsibilty.

I also want to add that by the time you graduate, most people will have got most of the blind idealism out of their systems. Being a physician is pretty cool, no doubt about it, and you get a lot of respect from the public (even as an intern) but it is still just a job for most people. If you have an overly idealistic notion of the medical profession then you are going to be disappointed and severly disillusioned by the end of medical school. I used to think a lot more highly of physicians before I became one. Now that I've seen the medical profession from the inside, a view not usually seen by the public, I'm a little more realistic.

The hardest thing to accept as a physican are the limitiations of medicine. In first and second year of medical school you are indoctrinated to believe that disease is cut and dry, that every patient is going to present with the classical symptoms, and that the cure (or death) is inevitable. In reality, a lot of your patients will have confusing histories, non-contributory physical exams, and lab results which confound your suspected differential diagnosis.

Many of your patients will be deeply unsatisfied with your care even if you do everything right.

Sometimes I joke with my wife that I find her faith in modern medicine touching.

i don't totally agree. In a sense the ceremony signifies you made it into med school and you are on your way to becoming a docotr. Maybe it is for the parents who helped you make your dream possible; they are proud of you and want to see you suceed. It also signifies the responsibility put before you and your role in making it all possible.

 

[toofache32]

No liability, good samaritan law protects you.

You can always be sued, but the good-samaritan laws will make it extremely difficult to lose. But you still incur all the thousands of dollars of court costs and legal fees. It's not as cut-and-dry as most people think.

 

[synapse lapse]

it's not outdated; at least not the basic premise. Anyone in the healthcare field, doctors or otherwise (however doctors are ultimately responsible and accountable for their patients) needs to seriously realize that they must never ever do anything to harm their patient. The whole thing and it's meaning SHOULD be taken seriously.

well PD, I won't waste my time debating the philosophy behind the HO, nor why I believe it is outdated, not to mentoion that it certianly shouldn't be required to be taken. You should realize that the do no harm part is but one sentence of an entire philosophical idea which is open for debate, and you shouldn't accept everything medicine or physicians throw at you as fact. Anyhow, you're too damn dramatic for my taste, so I won't waste anymore time on this.

 

[bmcgilligan]

it's not outdated; at least not the basic premise. Anyone in the healthcare field, doctors or otherwise (however doctors are ultimately responsible and accountable for their patients) needs to seriously realize that they must never ever do anything to harm their patient. The whole thing and it's meaning SHOULD be taken seriously.

One major point of contention many now have with the HO is that it is more paternalistic (the old "dr. knows best") while medicine is moving more in line with patient autonomy now.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

One major point of contention many now have with the HO is that it is more paternalistic (the old "dr. knows best") while medicine is moving more in line with patient autonomy now.

and someone posted an excellent article here recently how patients felt helpless to make decisions tha tthey knew nothing about; they wanted guidance and decisions from their docotrs.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

well PD, I won't waste my time debating the philosophy behind the HO, nor why I believe it is outdated, not to mentoion that it certianly shouldn't be required to be taken. You should realize that the do no harm part is but one sentence of an entire philosophical idea which is open for debate, and you shouldn't accept everything medicine or physicians throw at you as fact. Anyhow, you're too damn dramatic for my taste, so I won't waste anymore time on this.

and you're too callous for mine....