College of Medicine welcomes students with white coat ceremony

Forty-three aspiring doctors who make up the second class of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine received their traditional white medical coats in a ceremony on Aug. 6.

“With today’s ceremony you begin your transformation into physicians that will do good and will do well,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “We look forward to working with you to transform our community.”

The White Coat Ceremony, which officially marks the beginning of the students’ medical education, was held at the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center at FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus. A reception followed at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum.

College of Medicine Dean Dr. John A. Rock told students, “when you accept the coat, you are also accepting the responsibilities associated with the medical profession, the responsibility of providing competent, compassionate care to your patients, the responsibility of striving to be the best physician possible for your patients.”

In addition to their white coats, each student received a stethoscope, donated by Leon Medical Centers.

The event’s keynote speaker was Dr. Lynn H. Harrison, Jr., a nationally recognized cardiothoracic surgeon.

“You will pay a heavy cost for those coats on your lap,” said Harrison, “It is weighty apparel, an outward symbol of inward purpose.”

Harrison recently joined the Wertheim College of Medicine as chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery and professor of clinical cardiovascular surgery for Baptist Health South Florida, one of the medical school’s clinical partners.

Check out highlights from the rite of passage and hear from the students themselves in the video below.

Photos courtesy of Ivan Santiago.