Chow Meinischewitz: White Coat Ceremony

Holy shit, I'm going to be a doctor.

I don't think any of this ever really hit me until last Thursday night.

Last Thursday night we had our white coat ceremony, followed by a talent show.

The White Coat Ceremony is a relatively new tradition among medical schools and marks the transition into the medical profession. Dean Shenkman remarked that the Hippocratic oath is usually given during graduation, but that we will be seeing patients before we graduate and so an "initiation" and oath would be appropriate for us students before we even start school.

We recited the Oath of Geneva:

Oath of Geneva

I solemnly pledge myself to consecrate my life to the service of humanity;

I will give to my teachers the respect and gratitude which is their due;

I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity;

The health of my patient will be my first consideration;

I will respect the secrets which are confided in me;

I will maintain, by all means in my power, the honor and the noble traditions of the medical profession;

My colleagues will be my brothers and sisters;

I will not permit considerations of religion, nationality, race, or social standing to intervene between my duty and my patient;
I will maintain the utmost respect for human life;

I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity;

I make these promises solemnly, freely, and upon my honor.

Reading it on paper is one thing. But standing there and reading it aloud and making an oath is another. The whole thing was strangely powerful? moving? emotional? not sure of the right word, but I definitely took it to heart and am excited? scared? happy? for my future.

Outside the ceremony:

With Sella and Noa, our Israeli tour guides. The ladies LOVED Sella.

Poppin' collars...

After the buffet dinner (someone needs to keep me away from those things...this is the second time we've had a buffet and the second time I've walked away from the evening in pain because I ate too much), we had a talent show.

I ate 3 plates. I am neither kidding nor exaggerating.

Classmate's cute cute baby:

I was -- this close to performing the beaver song, but decided against it at the last moment (also, Younger suggested that I not act a fool in front of the Dean...good point). I will happily perform for friends and family!

Instead I was recruited by a friend to be a part of his skit for his "strong man" performance. In the skit, he tries to come on to me and I give him a fake name "Shanaynay Goldstein" and he goes to find the name in the phone book but finds that it doesn't exist, so he proceeds to tear it in half. It was impressive.

The talent show was impressive overall. Elisheva did a stand up routine which brought down the house. There was a Napolean Dynamite dance by Sam. A skit about what it's like to call Ira at the financial aid office (people were on the floor laughing), and an Enrique Iguelsias guitar medley, among the performances. Supposedly a video is going up on youtube so I'll post a link once it's up...if ever.