Lifelong Lessons: A Conversation With Students of Medicine

Abstract

From Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY. Founding Chairman Emeritus, Department of Radiology; Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Radiology and Medicine; Founding Editorin-Chief Emeritus, Abdominal Imaging, East Setauket, NY. F ifty-four years after graduating with an MD, I was honored to participate in a “white coat ceremony” at a medical school in which I had served on the faculty for the past 35 years. This ceremony began in 1993 at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and has since been adopted in virtually all schools of medicine in the United States. It inaugurates entering students into the profession in a ritual that develops a professional identity and encourages humanistic values. For all involved, it was a heartwarming experience. Family and friends were invited, and their pride filled the auditorium. The incoming firstyear students were giddy with joy. After the dean’s warm welcome, an address by a senior medical student reflected on what it means to be a student. A guest keynote speaker emphasized that the care of patients is a noble endeavor and a highly privileged one, one in which compassion and empathy should not be forsaken in the relentless pursuit of scientific proficiency. Then, the central act of the ceremony was performed as the incoming students were called on and the vice dean for undergraduate medical education and myself, representing the faculty, with great dignity and yet an air of jubilation, performed the “robing” or “cloaking” on each with a white coat, traditionally worn by physicians for more than 100 years. Unrestrained bursts of applause and shouts of acclamation from the audience frequently punctuated the event. Reseated, the students, led by the dean, recited the Hippocratic Oath. In the reception room afterward, faculty, students, family, and friends mingled happily. I was suddenly struck with the thought that the hands-on investiture, a personally delivered gift of faith and confidence, bears many similarities to a priest’s ordination to the priesthood. The white coat is personally placed on each student’s shoulders by individuals who believe in the student’s ability to achieve the role and carry on the noble tradition of doctoring. It is