VTC Medical School’s White Coat Ceremony Immerses Students in Tradition

Since the school’s inception, first-year students at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine have quickly been initiated into the field of medicine, learning its myriad of roles and responsibilities. They earned their hospital badges, wore their stethoscopes around their necks, and began diagnosing standardized patients.

In years past, new students did not receive the most significant symbol of the profession until later in the fall. This year, however, 51 future doctors took the Hippocratic oath and donned their white coats at a special ceremony on Friday night in Roanoke.

The White Coat Ceremony, one of the most heralded annual events at the medical school, took place at the end of the second week of instruction this year, just as the students completed a two-week introduction to the school’s new Profession of Medicine and Identities course. In the course, the students were introduced to the medical school’s identities that support their development into lifelong learners and health systems thinkers positioned to improve health care through inquiry and humility.  Through coaching, reflective practice, and experiential learning, these lessons will continue to support student identify formation and success throughout the curriculum.

“We feel that it is extremely important for our students to learn early in their medical education the commitment they are embarking upon in service to patients and the profession,” said Dean Lee Learman. “The white coat is a symbol, embedded with the concept of humanistic care, professional standards, and the specific guiding principles each class establishes for each other.”

Hiam Baidas, newly elected president of the Class of 2028, spoke at the White Coat Ceremony, leading her classmates in the recitation of their guiding principles . The students dedicated time in their Professions of Medicine and Identities class to discussing what it means to represent the medical profession, the school, and the community. They ultimately settled on five key sections embodying the Virginia Tech motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve): community, visionary, integrity, advocacy, and humanism.

“To me the white coat has two meanings. Firstly, it is a representation of the work, effort, and sacrifices my classmates, myself, and our support communities have made to attend medical school and progress in our aspirations of becoming a doctor. Secondly, I also think the white coat signifies the pure intentions we have for entering the profession and how we are currently a blank slate,” Baidas said. “We are here to learn new information and gain new experiences so that we can pursue our goal of treating patients and making an impact on the health care field.

“In conversations with peers, we have also discussed how the white coat represents the responsibilities that comes with the profession — acting as a physical reminder of the privilege to serve, treat, mentor, lead, and advocate for our patients. We are all united by this experience as we transition from layman to active members of the health care field and are cognizant of the heavy responsibility we shoulder as we become responsible for the lives of others and must always stay rooted to our pure intentions. ”

The first White Coat Ceremony was held at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York in 1993, supported by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The purpose of the ceremony is to clarify for students, before their entrances into the medical community, that a physician’s responsibility is both to take care of patients and to care for patients. In other words, doctors should care as well as cure.

The Virginia Tech Carilion White Coat Ceremony was made possible in part by a grant from the Gold Foundation and for several years, Virginia Tech alumnus and physician Richard Wardrop has donated the cost of the white coats for new students .

Tony Seupaul, executive vice president and chief physician executive at Carilion Clinic and professor of emergency medicine at the medical school, gave the keynote address at the ceremony. He related to the students that the symbolism of the white coat brings with it an immediate level of trust with patients.

“Celebrate today, but remember, with this coat comes much responsibility,” Seupaul said. “Every time you put it on, let it be a reminder, not just of your expertise, but of your empathy and the responsibility you have to care for each patient with thoughtfulness and respect. Additionally, today you have become leaders in your community – whether you want that or not. Your role extends beyond the walls of any clinic or hospital.”

Sporting their white coats as they departed the Jefferson Center on Friday night, members of the Class of 2028 were smiling and laughing together. Although they are just beginning their medical school journeys, they are destined to continue their paths together.

“My classmates and I have spent a great deal of time together the past few weeks. We have already begun to bond and form relationships with each other, and I believe these relationships will be some of the strongest memories from our time” at the school, Baidas said. “We will support each other through struggles, be there to celebrate our successes, and most importantly, remind each other about the reasons we decided to pursue a career in medicine and remain steadfast in making an impact on the patient populations we serve.”

By Josh Meyer

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