White Coat Ceremony: Reflections from the Class of 2027
The White Coat Ceremony was initiated by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1993. A White Coat Ceremony or similar rite of passage now takes place at nearly all U.S. medical schools and schools in several other countries. The receipt of the white coat, a symbol of the medical profession, is a symbolic undertaking to welcome the student into the field of medicine. With this annual ceremony often comes feelings of excitement, nerves, and sometimes, self-doubt. Congratulations, Class of 2027, and thank you for sharing your stories.
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Mustafa Hashmi is an MS1 who is open minded regarding future specialties. He has a broad interest in pursuing sports medicine and pediatrics.
“A dream is defined as a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal. Receiving my white coat will be the realization of my dream. After years of hard work, determination, and perseverance I am now entering my dream profession. I attribute this achievement to my parents, brother, extended family, friends, professors, colleagues, and mentors. Without them, I would not be where I am today. However, I know this is just the beginning of an arduous yet fruitful path. A path I have no regrets taking, and one that begins with the donning of the white coat.
The white coat symbolizes for me honor, professionalism, nobility, scientific inquiry, and compassionate care for all patients. This powerful garment signifies dedication to life-long learning, patient advocacy, and benevolence. It also portrays capability, persistence, and responsibility. I hope to wield this garment and its symbols with honor throughout my career. A career I am dedicating to service for all patients in my community. But for now, I will don my white coat with pride and integrity as I realize my dream.”
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Vishni Arulanandam is an MS1 who is excited to explore various clinical fields to find what her passion is.
“Receiving my white coat evokes a slew of thoughts and feelings (some of which slightly contradict). I feel empowered that I have made it to this dreamt of stage of my life (of course, with the assistance of multiple others) and have earned a seat at medical school. Simultaneously, I feel like a bit of an imposter who is receiving this coat of profound significance with such little knowledge of many clinical maneuvers and applications. The coat will initially feel like a foreign object loosely draped over my body and will take some time to fit the mold of my body/mind.
To me, this white coat represents my intertwining past, present, and future. My past experiences from being around my physician grandfather to working with terminally ill patients have fueled my path towards medicine and have provided me with my reasons for “why medicine?”. My present involves being immersed in a humbling, new journey in which I have much to learn and numerous opportunities to grow. Furthermore, this white coat hints at a transformative future. I will gradually start bearing more responsibility for the welfare of others who are leaning on me for guidance as part of their clinical team and will personally evolve in the process.
Finally, my white coat symbolizes my involvement in a purposeful profession that is much greater than myself. To my patients, this white coat may be seen as a heroic, white cape as they seek out answers, comfort, and reasons to remain hopeful. This white coat comes with high expectations which I hope to fulfill. In turn, my sense of commitment and dedication to my patients remain steadfast. I will continually strive to provide quality, compassionate care to my patients and hope to be a pillar of strength for them.”
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Anonymous
“When September came, I felt the winds of change stir my hair. It whispered through the deep green of old, old summer as I sat in the back of my father’s car for the first time since I had left for college, five years ago. It was the day before my first day of medical school, and my parents had come to visit me at my new apartment. I saw the visible lines that etched their faces and was swallowed by the indescribable emotion that is watching your parents age before your eyes. They must feel the same way, I thought, as they watch their eldest daughter step into adulthood and begin the journey to become a physician. ‘Where did all the time go?’ they must think. I feel their pride mixed with some bittersweet emotion that I cannot describe.
I feel the weight that accompanies growing up, the singular realization that soon, I will become my parents’ caretaker. I feel the same weight as I prepare to enter medicine, and I steel myself to grapple with my own and my patients’ complex and prismatic experiences of growing up and growing old, taking care of aging and ill loved ones, the experience of being sick oneself, the terror, anguish, and acceptance that comes in waves when one is suddenly faced with their own mortality, with death and dying, with the realization that no matter how loved someone is, they won’t be around forever.
To me, wearing the white coat is a symbol of shared humanity. To wear it is to say, ‘I am human, alongside you. I see, hear, and understand your pain, because part of me has been there too.'”
