The Power Behind the White Coat
Ceremony Marks Rite of Passage for First-Year Med Students
Something “magical” happens to a medical school student when they don their white coats for the first time, says
Dr. Stephen Ray Mitchell, dean for Georgetown’s School of Medicine.
Nearly 200 future doctors gathered on Aug. 7 to receive their white coats -- garments that not only symbolize a rite of passage for medical students, but signify students’ transformations from pre-medical studies to clinical health science education.
“(The white coat) has for 200 years not only been a talisman of magic, but of (disease) prevention,” Mitchell said during this year’s White Coat Ceremony in Gaston Hall.
The dean shared more white-coat characteristics with the audience -- from the crispness of the collars to the names stitched into the cloth. “Mine has lots of starch because we are convinced in medicine (that) if you make starch heavy enough you can keep away lawyers, illness, sadness,” Mitchell said with a laugh.
He also said the name on the coat may be just as important as the coat itself.
“You thought the name (was) for the patient, but the name is for you,” he said. “(It’s to) remember who you are; to remember what you are, not only a doctor, but a son, husband, wife -- human.”
Georgetown's newest School of Medicine
students, including Brian Perry (M'13) at right,
take the Hippocratic Oath for the
first time at the White Coat Ceremony.
Mitchell’s words and the significance of the ceremony resonated with the audience of first-year students, their families, friends and faculty members. But for the parents of
Caroline Green (M’13), the most powerful moment was seeing their daughter receive her coat.
“She is the first person entering medical school in our family,” said
Michael Green, the student’s father. Tears of joy came from the family who had driven from Pennsylvania to mark the special moment.
Before the class of 2013 crossed the stage to receive their coats, members were given pins representing one of Georgetown’s core values,
cura personalis, or care for the whole person. As they donned their new pristine white coats in front of family, friends and Georgetown faculty, the students recited the Hippocratic Oath together for the first time.
As the ceremony neared its end, one more piece of advice was offered by
Dr. Donald Knowlan, an emeritus professor of medicine at Georgetown.
“A doctor always places the interest of a patient above his own,” he said, “and it all begins today.”
