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Associate Dean for Student Affairs Angela Jackson, MD, welcomed the smiling group of family and friends gathered to witness the presentation of the Class of 2026 with their white coats, which represent \u201cvisible evidence that they are joining this profession, taking their first steps along this path leading to a demanding but rewarding and meaningful career in medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vincent Smith, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics, welcomed the students gathered under a big, white tent Monday on Talbot Green to what he called \u201cthe noblest of professions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will bring you joy. It will bring you pain\u2026There will be highs and there will be lows, but overall, it will be an amazing, incredible ride,\u201d said Smith, the guest speaker at the White Coat Ceremony, which marks the students\u2019 official entry into the study of medicine.<\/p>\n
The heart of the ceremony is the presentation of the white coats, during which the faculty advisers they will have for the next four years help each incoming medical student slip into their white coat, embroidered with their name, that is symbolic of the medical profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you put that white coat on for the first time today, the message is not that you are expected to become a professional, but that, as of today, you are now already a part of the profession,\u201d said BUMC Provost and BUSM Dean Karen Antman, MD.<\/p>\n
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The White Coat Ceremony is one of the rare moments during their medical education when the entire class gathers together. In presenting the class to Dean Antman, Associate Dean for Admissions Kristen Goodell, MD, shared some statistics. The 159 members of the 174th<\/sup> entering class were selected from a pool of more than 11,400 applicants. They hail from 30 states and 30 countries and speak 26 languages.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we welcome you \u2026 our shared intention is for you to reach your goals, so that you can set about making the world a better place,\u201d Goodell said.<\/p>\n But even super achievers are challenged by medical school.<\/p>\n \u201cYou and your classmates will have challenges, that\u2019s normal in medical school,\u201d cautioned Antman.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be hard; if it were easy, anybody could do it,\u201d Antman said, paraphrasing a quote from the movie \u201cA League of Their Own.\u201d<\/p>\n Newly coated Justin Grant said he felt like he\u2019d come a long way with a lot more still in front of him. An Atlanta native who graduated from Morehouse College, Grant participated in BUSM\u2019s Early Medical School Selection Program, an early assurance program developed in 1982 that seeks to diversify the physician workforce.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not very nervous or anxious right now, I feel very good,\u201d Grant said.<\/p>\n Brittny Garcia is from the Rio Grande Valley, \u201cextremely south Texas.\u201d The University of Texas at Austin graduate chose BUSM because of its commitment to diversity and its focus on serving underserved populations. She hopes to take what she learns and return to serve her community and others like it.<\/p>\n \u201cI really felt like I was welcomed, and this is where I was supposed to be,\u201d she said. \u201cThey really made me feel like I had a place in medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n But Smith had his champions, a supportive mother and \u201chelp from people who had nothing to gain from helping me.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith graduated from Texas A&M University, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. He trained in pediatrics at Children\u2019s Hospital and Boston Medical Center (BMC) in the Boston Combined Pediatric Residency Program. He serves as BMC\u2019s Division Chief of Newborn Medicine.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I could tell you that my path was well planned, and that I thought it all out and it all went according to plan, but that\u2019s just not true,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s grandmother, who lived to 104, told him age brings understanding and he passed on advice he said he would have given his younger self: hang on, life gets better; inner beauty eclipses outward appearance; and make the best decision you can with the information you have.<\/p>\n \u201cBe generous with your time, love and resources,\u201d Smith told students. \u201cWhat you get back in return is immeasurable.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/camed\/files\/2022\/08\/MED_6945a-scaled-e1659381454454-515x636.jpg\")
Smith\u2019s backstory demonstrated that life\u2019s path is rarely straight and predictable. A self-described \u201cshort pudgy kid with (thick) glasses,\u201d Smith said he grew up in Texas bookish, Black, and gay. One teacher told him Black kids never amounted to anything and another predicted he\u2019d be dead or in jail by 21.<\/p>\n
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