Welcome to Your Next Adventure: The Virtual White Coat Ceremony
The unprecedented disruption of life as we know it due to COVID-19 has resulted in new and creative ways to celebrate milestones while embracing technology, and the chance to grow and learn as a virtual community.
At 11 a.m. Aug. 3, BU School of Medicine shared a virtual White Coat Ceremony with and for the 172nd entering class. The YouTube version of the video was initially viewed more than 1,300 times during the first 24 hours of posting. The 35-minute video montage included speeches from a variety of BUSM administrators, Q&A with students sharing what they are most excited about and what they wanted classmates to know about them, a self-coating segment with family and friend(s) assisting and the recitation of the Hippocratic oath, all from a variety of physically distanced, safe environments.
The White Coat Ceremony is a symbolic rite of passage for medical students where they pledge their commitment to the profession and the trust they must earn from their patients. It is their inauguration into the study of medicine.
Associate Dean for Admissions Kristen Goodell, MD, warmly greeted the class and their families. “I am so pleased to be here to speak with you today as you officially join the world of medicine. In addition to hopefully dazzling you with facts that describe just how fabulous you all are, I’m delighted to offer my congratulations, my welcome and my very best wishes as you begin this adventure.
“There are 152 of you in this class…drawn from a pool of more than 9,500 candidates and you come to us by way of five different entry pathways, and from 22 different states.
“Academically you are among the most accomplished classes we have ever had and you are also a very diverse group in many ways. Fifty-nine percent of you are not men. Thirty-one of you were born outside the United States, and the list of your places of birth includes 16 different countries. One hundred twenty-three of you, greater than 83 percent of the class, speak at least one language in addition to English. As a group, you speak a total of more than 20 different languages. Twenty-two percent of you are from groups under-represented in medicine. Some of you have parents and grandparents in medicine, while others of you are the first member of an extended family to attend college. In cultural, social, economic, racial, ethnic, gender identity, educational and linguistic terms, and in your life experiences, you define the pluralism that we so value on this campus and which is so central to our society,” said Dr. Goodell.
BUSM Dean and BUMC Provost Karen H. Antman, MD, shared her insight regarding the challenges the new students might face and assured them that “Medicine is a big tent, we need a variety of talents. You will not do everything right the first time, or the second time, or the third time. You will still be a great doctor.”
Angela Jackson, MD, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, addressed the new students. “You have arrived with your enthusiasm, energy, interests and ideals. You’re ready to work hard and begin the challenging, rewarding and indeed exhilarating, transformation from student to physician. Please remember this one thing — you are not alone in this transformative process…Faculty, staff and colleagues…will help to guide, advise and teach you. They will listen to you, support and reassure you. But the most transformative and lasting teachers…the most powerful and enduring mark on your professional lives will be made by your patients. You will learn to partner with them in their care and in the process of learning the art and the science of medicine. Welcome to the beginning of your next adventure.”
Dr. John Polk, Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion, welcomed the students to the School of Medicine. “We look forward to you joining our community of learners and to your contributions.” Then Associate Dean for Medical Education Dr. Priya Garg presented the student names.
“All of you have met academic and personal challenges; all of you have had successes and failures; all of you have sacrificed much and accomplished a great deal to reach this moment,” said Dean Goodell. “And as you move into the next phase of your journey, your entry into the sacred trust that is the profession of medicine, each of you will struggle, each of you will have doubts, and at some point, each of you will look in the mirror and wonder, ‘Can I really do this?’ What will sustain you in these difficult moments will be your own skill and talent, your own resilience and strength of character, the support of your classmates, the love of your family and friends, and the commitment of your teachers and mentors. For us as a faculty it will be a privilege to walk this little way with you and perhaps to guide you, just a little bit.”
“I can’t wait to see you in school,” added Dean Goodell.