White coats confer trust, responsibility on students
by Kim Miller
Family and friends of first-year medical students at the Medical College of Georgia learned at the 2006 Family Day that a physician’s white coat is more than a garment.
“The purpose of this is symbolism,” said MCG President Daniel W. Rahn at the 11th annual White Coat Ceremony held Sept. 9 at Warren Baptist Church.
“I would suggest that once I put on a white coat and stand in front of you, it’s difficult to view me in the same way, that there really is symbolic significance that is associated with our professional dress,” he said as he left the podium to exchange his suit coat for his white one.
The White Coat Ceremony was initiated in 1993 by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation at Columbia University. It serves as a rite of passage for medical students who, under close faculty supervision, will begin interacting with patients as part of their coursework.
“The white coat symbolizes the trust and the respect our society places in us as physicians,” explained Dr. Ruth-Marie E. Fincher, MCG vice dean for academic affairs. “It symbolizes the relationship between physicians and their patients, that the physician cares and has the right and the responsibility to cross social norms and invade the personal life of the patient through probing questions and probing hands.”
The coat symbolizes a great responsibility and if not worn correctly can impede communication and suggest entitlement or superiority, she added.
“My hope for all of you today is that you will receive and wear proudly your white coat bearing two things in mind,” Dr. Fincher said. “First, please keep your coat clean. It will wash well and I do not want to see you in a white coat with a ring around the collar or dirt around the cuffs… and secondly, wear your white coat as a symbol of your heartfelt compassion and professional commitment in all you do.”
Andy Nagar, a fourth-year medical student and president of his class, gave several examples of how the white coat invited him into the lives of his patients. He was particularly touched by a 24-year-old patient with AIDS.
“After spending several days with her and earning her trust, she shared with me the story of three unplanned pregnancies beginning at the age of 12,” he said. “In the last days of her stay, she shared her memories of a difficult life, in part because I took the time and in part because she identified my white coat as a sign I was there to care for her rather than to judge her.”
School of Medicine Dean D. Douglas Miller gave a brief history of the white coat before introducing the ceremony’s keynote speaker, Dr. Walter Moore, dean of graduate medical education and recipient of the class of 2006’s Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.
“Professionalism is the basis of medicine’s contract with society,” Dr. Moore said in his address to the class of 2010. “It demands placing the interest of patients above those of the physician, setting and maintaining standards of competence and integrity, and providing expert advice to society in matters of health.”
Along with the values of partnership and excellence, Dr. Moore encouraged students to embrace the opportunities afforded to them for personal and professional growth.
“There are many individuals who miss opportunities in life,” he said. “Thomas Edison, the most prolific American inventor in our history with over 1,000 patents, opined as to why so many people missed opportunities. I quote, ‘Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and it looks like work.’
“I guarantee you have work to do,” said Dr. Moore with a smile.
