White Coat Ceremony to mark beginning of medical studies at FIU


Inaugural class will receive white coats and recite oath patterned after the Oath of Hippocrates on Aug. 7 at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center.

By Sissi Aguila

The Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine will hold its first White Coat Ceremony – a tradition that symbolizes the beginning of a medical student’s journey toward becoming a physician – on August 7 at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center.

Dr. John A. Rock, founding dean and senior vice president of medical affairs, will lead the group in reciting the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine Medical Student Oath patterned after the Oath of Hippocrates.

Dr. Sanford M. Markham, executive associate dean of student affairs; Dr. J. Patrick O’Leary, executive associate dean of clinical affairs; and Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson, executive associate dean of academic affairs, will present the 43 students that make up FIU’s inaugural class with white coats, a symbol for more than 100 years of clinical service and professionalism among physicians, as well as stethoscopes provided by León Medical Centers. As is customary, the medical students’ coats are shorter in order to distinguish them from doctors when doing their residencies.

A symbolic event introduced in 1993, the White Coat Ceremony was established after a group of distinguished physicians, medical educators and community leaders formed the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The group was concerned that as scientific and technological advances began to change the way medicine was practiced, medical practitioners would lose their focus on humanism in medicine.

The Foundation concluded that the beginning of a student’s journey into medicine is the best time to influence standards of professionalism, humanistic values and behavior. More than 100 medical schools in the United States now hold White Coat Ceremonies.

“The significance of this particular White Coat Ceremony is twofold,” said Markham. “It does indeed represent the point in time that medical students begin their training for a life-long career in medicine, and it additionally represents the true beginning of the new College of Medicine at Florida International University.”

The first public college of medicine in South Florida, the College received preliminary accreditation in February of 2008 and began recruiting students in late 2008. More than 3,000 students across the country applied for the 43 spots in the first class.

“We have developed an innovative curriculum which will train culturally competent physicians that reflect the diversity of our South Florida community,” said Rock of what FIU medical students can expect.

FIU faculty, family and friends will join the College of Medicine for this rite of passage on Friday, August 7 at 3:45 p.m. The ceremony will be followed by a reception at the Frost Art Museum.

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