By Amy E. Hamaker
Photos by Ryan Ball
Photo right: Incoming student Oliver H. Gantz adjusts his white coat after receiving it from Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito
Henri Ford, vice dean for medical education at the Keck School, coats Vanessa Kreger
On a balmy Southern California summer evening, 180 members of the Class of 2015 of the Keck School of Medicine and their families gathered in the Harry & Celesta Pappas Quad to celebrate their entry into the Trojan family at the 2011 White Coat Ceremony.
The Aug. 12 event saw new students receiving their first white coat, a symbol of their new status as part of the medical profession. The theme for the evening was the importance of maintaining the human connection in medicine, and the featured speakers stressed how the new students might achieve this.
Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito poses with Alana Kinrich after presenting her with her coat.
Keynote speaker Stuart P. Swadron, director of the residency training program and 2011 Humanism in Medicine Award recipient, reminded the incoming students that the need to remember the human side of medicine is just as important of a part of the practice of medicine as scientific proficiency and technical training.
“You are now part of the medical profession, with all that entails and implies,” said Swadron. “The way you work here is a dress rehearsal for the way you’ll interact with your patients. … Be great to one another, … be good to those who work around you and under you … and enjoy being part of the greatest profession on earth.”
Stuart P. Swadron, director of the residency training program, shares words of wisdom and inspiration with the class of 2015.
Donna D. Elliott, associate dean for student affairs, who presided over the white coat ceremony, agreed. “Independent of all other pressures we face, respect for this relationship and commitment to the ideals of medicine are essential,” she said.
Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., MBA, and Henri Ford, vice dean for medical education, stressed using teamwork and collaboration for students to support each other as they progressed in their medical education. During his opening comments, Ford compared the students’ upcoming journey through medical school to taking part in the Olympics, in that they were all part of an elite team.
“But unlike the Olympics, where medals are given only to the top three athletes or teams, Dean Puliafito has 180 medals, one for each one of you,” he said. “You will achieve this noble aspiration by merely finishing the race. And since you are guaranteed a medal at the end, perhaps the greatest, if not the only, thing that matters is how you run the race.”
White coat in hand, Megan Sue Bernstein eagerly awaits the ceremony.
The impact of the ceremony was well received by students. “It was really inspiring,” said new Keck student Laura Bernardini. “The most important thing about medicine is the patients, and it’s nice to be reminded of that, especially on the long, cold nights that we’ll be studying in the library.”
Laura Bernardini (center, looking up) joins her classmates in reciting the Hippocratic Oath at the close of the ceremony.
“I was really happy with emphasis on dealing with patients on the human level,” added new student Noah Swann, who has an interest in pediatrics. “That’s something I think I’m going to emphasize in my career.”