MU School of Medicine: White Coat Ceremony 2020

welcome back good to see you again i just saw your uh notes about the kind of physician you'd like to be i love i love reading those so welcome this is the white coat ceremony i guess i'm welcoming people from afar also through the power of computers so all of you who are parents or friends or spouses or children welcome also my name is steven swieg and i'm the dean of the mu school of medicine so i came to columbia 45 years ago this summer as a first year medical student we we weren't in this room but we were in what is now called bryant auditorium on the first floor of the medical school and i sat as you are today with my new classmates and future colleagues many of whom became dear friends and continue to be to this day i don't know about you but i was very excited and a bit scared the good news is that i'm still excited about what i'm doing but not nearly as scared as i was you've experienced rituals before and the white coat ceremony is a ritual it signifies a covenant or compact a contract an agreement a commitment to the knowledge skills respect and shared humanity the physicians have with their patients and so during this covet pandemic the white coat came to represent more it is a symbol of doctors nurses and other health care professionals who are actually putting themselves at risk to provide the type of care to patients who have a very contagious disease it recognizes both competence and commitment there's a death of george floyd and other black people reminded us of the racism that still pervades our society many of us silently demonstrated for the white coat black lives movement and here the white coat represents our humanity the respect that each physician must have for every patient so what are the origins of this ceremony it goes back to dr arnold gold who was a teacher and pediatric neurologist at columbia university in new york and in 1991 he and his wife created commencement awards for faculty members and students who best demonstrated humanistic care and clinical excellence and so the white coat ceremony has now been repeated across the country in more than 100 medical schools and its purpose is to provide medical students with guidelines regarding the expectations and responsibilities appropriate for the medical profession even prior to you starting your education and training dr gold died in january 2019 at 92 and as part of his legacy the arnold p gold foundation established the white coat ceremony to highlight the importance of humanism as the core of health care providing an important emphasis on compassionate collaborative and excellent care from the first day of training and as part of this ceremony each of you will also be taking the oath of geneva which you will take again at the time of graduation dr gold felt that the most important element of this ceremony was taking the oath and acknowledging our obligations for caring for patients so i encourage each of you to acknowledge the historical role of physicians and that is to respond to human need no matter how good or science and you should be good at science the human need will remain and even with the best technology technique and pharmacology physicians will still need to respond to human need so being a good doctor is hard work and commitment is what our patients expect and deserve and so while it's okay to not know the answers it's not okay if you don't try to find them out for your patients when patients get from you the total acceptance and commitment to help them you will gain their respect and trust and once you have that trust everything is easier patients follow your recommendations become more effective partners in their care and are much more likely to tell you when your treatments aren't working so each of us has the opportunity to find meaning in medicine and we can share that meaning with each other you will find friends within your class grasp them and hold them tight maybe after the covet epidemic it's the shared meaning and purpose that brings you together and that reminds us that we're not alone in this process so i learned during medical school and residency training that what i cared about the most was caring for patients of all sorts all ages and who had a great variety of different problems and i later learned in practice that it was care over time of patients and families that was the most sustaining thing for me and so i found meeting and addressing the challenges of my patients and the value of those sustained relationships as i became more involved in geriatric medicine and palliative medicine i recognized that even small changes in care informed by medical knowledge and the knowledge of my patients helped to improve both their function and their comfort so as a new medical student grab this chance that you have and fully commit recognize that it may take more time and effort than anything that you've previously experienced but know also that you have a great opportunity an opportunity to find meaning through service and a meeting that will sustain you through the years of training and the challenges that you'll face in the future treat each of your patients and each member of the healthcare team with the respect that they deserve and they will help you so i hope i get to know each of you in the years ahead one of the things that comes with the white coat is if you become burned out frustrated or cynical about your work come and talk to me about it i can't promise to fix the situation but i'll listen and i'll try so good wishes to you all [Applause] i want to let you know about a change in the program dr hosacava our senior associate dean is unable to be here with us today and dr lane young walker our associate dean for student programs will be taking over his role and will be serving as the mc dr young walker but right now i'd like to introduce our executive vice chancellor for health affairs whom you met earlier this week dr richard barron right thanks steve it doesn't get any easier speaking through one of these things can you you're hearing us well okay good well as i introduce myself to you on uh on stethoscope ceremony day my name's rick barron and i'm the new evc for health affairs at the university of missouri and it's really an honor to come back today to speak to you again and this time i understand it's also being projected to your families and friends and so they get to witness this as well and clearly these are unprecedented times that we live in due to the pandemic and there are many uncertainties but some things remain the same our faculty and our staff are dedicated to bringing you the most comprehensive and thoughtful medical education possible so to the friends and the families watching today today's ceremony virtually i want to reinforce the great decision your loved ones have made to study here at the university of missouri the mu school of medicine is perceived nationally as one of the jewels of medical education in the united states and as a leader in patient-based learning and in the small classroom setting i've now been at a number of medical institutions in my career you know i started at university of missouri kansas city then ohio state university university of texas in san antonio and then ut southwestern and then for the last 20 years at ku and every one of those institutions i was at they were all trying to play catch-up to the to the education curriculum at the university of missouri in columbia and so we really are one of the leaders in this and and you're here to take advantage of that so to our students i congratulate you on today's milestone and wish you all the best as you start your career as a member of the mu school of medicine class 2024. earlier this week at the stethoscope ceremony i spoke to you and i told you what i thought the significance of the stethoscope was and in that it represents technical expertise that you'll be developing throughout your education and into your careers as a physician being technically proficient really is important uh to your uh to the health care area that you're going to be going into as you become as you become a physician but as i also mentioned the other day it's it's not the only part so another part is developing the ability to show empathy with patients and their families as dr zweig was just elucidating so to me the white coat is a representation of our humanity in the medical profession so it's an outward covering that we wear most days when we're acting as a physician and which you will wear most days in your training but it's a but it's a representation of the responsibility and commitment physicians have to patients to do the best that you can and to do no harm so to stretch the analogy just a little different this may get a little too uh obscure but i brought my stethoscope again and and i brought my hammer too because i hardly ever use a stethoscope as i mentioned i only use the reflex hammer these days in my neurology patients but while the stethoscope is a hallmark of technical ability what does what does this stethoscope allow you to do so you're listening to the patient you're listening to the patient's heart i listen to the carotids as a neurologist a lot who looks into their abdomen but the key is you're you're you're hearing them and you're listening to the patient and that is really the message that i think dr zweig was giving you and that i'm giving you again you'll probably hear it again throughout this ceremony today listen to your patience that's the key to becoming an empathetic and effective physician so my medical school education was a little bit different actually was a lot different so i was one of the early students that got into the new bamd program at the university of missouri kansas city our sister institution 120 miles west of here and so our freshman year there when we were 18 we were doing basically pre-med slash med we were learning at all we were taking medical school courses when we were 18 years old but they also gave us a white coat and we didn't have white coat ceremonies then but i remember putting on the white coat and we were assigned docents at local hospitals and so i was assigned to this very wise senior general surgeon at baptist memorial hospital which no longer exists as a hospital and i would follow me and a few other students would follow him around on his rounds in the in the hospital and i just can still remember putting on the white coat and and for it being a really emotional and meaningful experience for me then even at that young age and it will be for you too so the mu medical school program is more traditional and and and i suspect that you at your ages now starting medical school were are probably a lot more mature than i was when i was 18. but the effect i think is similar i'm very excited to be part of this important initiation ceremony today as you embark on your medical careers which will undoubtedly take you down many pathways so as you learn to embrace the various backgrounds traits and experiences each of you brings to the table you'll come together as a class i was talking to some of the students before this and it may be a little more difficult to gel virtually but i'm sure it will happen over the next four years so collectively celebrating who you are both as individuals and as a group will serve you will serve your patients well and as you know connecting with patients is at the forefront of our patient centered care curriculum please know that if you ever want to speak to me my door is ver open virtually or physically i'm fairly easy to get my schedule still hasn't filled up yet so now is really the time to come and talk to me we'll see what it is in a year from now but my door is always open and i would love to hear from you as you embark on the next steps of your career so now i'm going to turn it over to you thank you steve and now we have the pleasure to introduce the associate dean for student programs who you've met who's also the chair of the department of psychiatry dr elaine young walker dr young walker [Applause] thank you very much dr zweig every one of you as an incoming medical student brings a background experiences culture values and talents that are the foundation for their commitment to serve others we place substantial importance on this background and the selection of our students selection for medical school is much more than test scores and grade point average this week the students have spent time reflecting thinking and talking about those experiences and commitments they have captured their thoughts as statements as a class they have developed a vision for the kind of physicians they want to be in your program you will find an insert of a list of these statements and doctors why i can kind of reference them it's yellow of the 128 statements listed there the class voted for the top 16 to be read as part of this ceremony i would like to share these statements with you so collectively the mu school of medicine class of 2024 said i want to be the physician who is willing to both teach and be taught advocates for my patients especially those who can't advocate for themselves is honest with my own abilities and seeks guidance when needed believes that every human life matters is and is deserving of quality care finds creative solutions to challenging problems using the best available evidence i want to be the kind of physician who inspires change fights for justice on all fronts and sees the patient beyond the diagnosis advocates for listens to and learns from my patient is constantly adjusting and learning to interact with patients of all backgrounds and is committed to self-improvement mentality emotionality and spirituality sees others as people first patients next to work together with them towards a path of health and wellness actively engages in self-reflection and takes steps towards improvement i want to be the kind of physician who empathetically listens and understands each patient's challenges hopes fears and desire to be understood collaborates with colleagues patients and their families to achieve the best health outcomes considers all aspects of a patient situation and aims to find a personalized solution is able to adapt and learn from new challenges that i'm faced with fosters trust and openness with my patients and camaraderie among my colleagues through effective communication problem solves to address inequities in patient care and advocate for solutions in my community these statements are evidence that the class of 2024 will become the physicians our patients deserve and the mu school of medicine will be proud to have you as graduates students please turn to your program now as there are some things i'd like to highlight if you look on page four you'll find the mu school of medicine foundation values for medical education you'll see that our foundation values start with the health of our patients is our first priority the highest quality care is the environment for the highest quality education of a future physician now if you can turn to page five you'll see that there's a list of the characteristics that describe what the school of medicine faculty have decided that they want our graduates to be like we call these the key characteristics because we believe that these are qualities our graduates will need to have to be successful as physicians practicing in the 21st century the key characteristics listed first is being able to deliver effective patient-centered care i know patient-centered care was something we've been talking about from the beginning of this week in looking at patient-centered care it's the type of care that respects individual perspectives beliefs values and cultures shares timely complete accurate and understandable information to inform health choices engages each person as he or she prefers understanding that care choices belong to the individual partners in decision making and the delivery of care so we've invited a few fourth-year medical students to speak with you today about their experiences as a medical student and to give you some words of wisdom first i would like to introduce grant geiger to the stage and he will be followed by ebony page phillips grant please come forward [Applause] grant was a gentleman and said ladies first today so good afternoon class of 2024 my name is ebony paige phillips and i'm a fourth year medical student going into emergency medicine i want to welcome you to mu med and hopefully give you some words of encouragement that you will likely forget but that's okay so a little bit about me after surviving but not thriving at northwestern university for undergrad i took a five year gap and at that time i knew the road to obtaining a white coat would be difficult but somehow worth it so i kept going i personally got into medical school on my third attempt after struggling to piece together the perfect application that would highlight the years of hard work and sacrifice that my family and i invested to enter a career in service to others i'm sure some of you have faced your own obstacles to sit in those seats today whether you did it on your own or like me through the grace of god by climbing on the backs of your ancestors and loved ones who helped to prepare propel you forward you deserve to be here there will be so many times when self-doubt creeps in and you will feel as if you're not worthy to don that white coat but wear it proudly anyway or like many of us hang it in your closet so you don't scare your patients away redirect your doubt into productive ways to make yourself a better clinician for your patients yes study hard but be sure to take time for yourselves and most importantly don't ever be afraid to ask for help although it may seem isolating at times particularly if you don't fit into a majority category you are not alone and we are all here for you embrace your struggles for they make your successes even sweeter and i have personally found them to be character and endurance building if you find yourself to be the exception to struggling make yourself available to your classmates as someone will undoubtedly do the same for you one day we are super excited for you to learn and grow here at mu mid thank you and congratulations on your new journey [Applause] um first yeah just thank you ebony i want to second everything she was she had just said um i will probably reiterate some of those things because of how important they are but my name is grant geiger i would be an m4 but i decided to do a disaster year with infectious disease i am also going into emergency medicine in no small part because i spent several years in em also applying three times to get into medical school i felt somewhat unique in my experience knowing that i had gone through some additional trials and hard rejections to be where you were sitting today i've since learned that was probably giving myself a bit too much of a pat on the back my family friends and professional associates supported me for three years getting into medical school and for the past three years the school and my classmates have continued to fortify my support structures over the next two years you will rely heavily on your classmates to teach you our curriculum is built around collaboration and interpersonal learning i can confidently say i would not be succeeding in the ways i currently am if i had not bought into this concept of symbiotic success however to truly excel in any aspect of medicine or for that matter life in general you must learn about each other as well as from each other the stories mike the stories my fellow students and faculty have shared with me over the years about their hardships as well as their accomplishments are profound i now look out at you the first class in a hundred years to start your medical education during a respiratory pandemic the first class in over 50 years to matriculate during an anti-racist civil rights movement and the inaugural crash joining our medical community as we have the largest reckoning with systemic racism in our own institutions since tuskegee and i know that each and every one of you has been through it recognize that there may ar there are different degrees of this some of you have undoubtedly had a bumpier ride here than others but you deserve to be here and you deserve to feel proud for it you've worked and fought you've each earned your spot i won't tell you the hard part is done unfortunately you've agreed to to enter into the best profession on the planet and we have a price to pay for that however i do wish you weren't entering under the current world circumstances many of these current movements could have been resolved long ago many of these events and trends could have been prevented or at the very least better handled so in addition to everything ebony spoke about i want to bring in a concept from one of my idols a man who walked away from a 50 million dollar deal in 2004 and i don't even know what 50 million would have been pre-2008 depression but he walked away because he had a crisis of conscience about what fulfilling that contract might have brought into this world he gave up a very popular show and was accused of being mentally ill for dropping the deal all because he knew what you do in your lifetime informs the generations that come after you we are bigger than ourselves i don't believe medicine or medical education will ever again look like what it did even six months ago you may be the class of 2024 but i'd be willing to bet you will remember yourselves as the entering class of 2020 the year that everything got shaken up and was forced to change you will no longer be bystanders you have agreed to be participants own that understand that you have your role to play in affecting all of the generations after you be mindful of that responsibility those that participated in our med prep programs are familiar with the garden analogy the flowers are products of all the components that went into growing them i want to take that a step further and state you are currently the plants in the garden but you're only about to but you're about to step into the role of the gardener what you begin to grow and tend to right now is what will feed not only yourselves but your family your society and generations to come and as it applies to so so many currently relevant topics it is our responsibility each and every one of you included to make your garden as equitable as possible so that it can thrive or for now the second time that i get to reference someone who i believe will go down as a modern philosopher dave chappelle in a professional setting so many things can flourish naturally all you got to do is make sure the soil is right but you all are smart i believe that you already knew much of this deep down so just like you know have a good time while doing it this stuff is a lot of work but it's also a lot of fun we're glad that you're here to join import thank you very much evania and grant i appreciate your willingness to share a special thanks goes out to families and friends of new students and although they're not in the room with us they are here with you maybe on youtube maybe in your spirit in your mind but they're here you know many of these people that join us through live stream are going to continue to support you through medical school so we want to take a moment to recognize them we know that many of our students would not be able to be here without their families and their friends standing behind and beside them we are truly grateful to all of your family members the parents the spouses partners significant others siblings grandparents aunts uncles cousins even children of our medical students and friends for the sacrifices that they make to support you in your pursuit of this career we know how hard you will work to support them and we thank you for that i would also like to thank this opportunity to let you know that we will have an event and we have it every year that allows us to have families to get involved our medical students have long been grateful to fams which stands for families assisting medical students fams does wonderful things to help our students and you'll learn more about fams in the next few weeks we hope that many of you will join fams in helping support our students so for all of those families that are live streaming or that maybe hear later from the students about fams we hope you'll participate in that group i also want to invite all of the families to our annual family day the 36th annual family day will be held virtually this year on saturday august 29th this online event is for families to learn about mizzou med our curriculum and the experiences of our students there will be more information that will be sent to students soon and we strongly encourage you to share this information with your families and friends and now it gives me great pleasure to introduce dr carly urban dr carly urban is this year's white coat keynote speaker she is a graduate of the university of missouri school of medicine after residency she remained at the university of missouri to complete her family medicine residency and geriatrics fellowship dr urban then joined the department of family and community medicine as an outpatient physician and was the director of the sage clinic a multi-disciplinary clinic providing outpatient geriatric consultations dr urban also served as the chair of the caring for the frail elderly conference and the family family caregiver conference in 2015 she joined the university of missouri urgent care department where she worked until 2019 last year dr urban joined advanced senior care a practice that focuses on the care of seniors in long-term care and skilled nursing facilities she also currently works for hospice compasses and as an and as an assistant medical director dr urban please come to the stage thank you very much for that introduction good afternoon and thank you so much for the opportunity to join you for this wonderful occasion as was mentioned just a moment ago i am a graduate of the university of missouri school of medicine and i'm proud to have completed my family medicine residency and my geriatric fellowship program here at the university i can assure you that while you are getting ready to enter a program that will academically prepare you you will also find that it will provide you the professional and mental support that is needed as you start this great journey i have a few messages that i would like to share with you today but first and foremost congratulations many of you have dreamed of this moment for years possibly even since childhood some of you may be entering medical school directly from undergraduate education while others may be coming from a professional career the moment of donning your white coat will be the first time that you will feel like you have actually done what you had set out to do i encourage you to feel and take in that moment of pride that you will feel and to remember that moment for years to come while the four years of medical school may seem like it will take an eternity and sometimes it will seem like it does i assure you that it will also pass very quickly now as you sit here today i know many of you may have in mind the type of medicine you would like to pursue some of you may want to focus on research some on primary care others may want to do a surgical subspecialty and yet others may have an interest in being a hospitalist and yet don't worry for those of you who have no idea what you want to do this is very normal too regardless if you are here today with an anticipated career path in mind i encourage you to keep an open mind as you start your pbl learning and even as you enter your clinical rotations in year three there will be times that you are only one week into a topic or a rotation and you will realize this is what i was meant to do this is where i belong these are the people that i want to be my colleagues these are the patients that i want to treat i encourage you to be open-minded as you enter these upcoming years and look for such opportunities to expand your horizons feel free to explore whatever touches your heart as you go through your rotations and your learning now in your training you will have an opportunity to learn about the beauty of birth and the beauty of death and you will learn about all of the journeys that occur between these two passageways you will have experiences that will help you grow as an individual and i encourage you to take time to reflect on these experiences as they happen allow these experiences and transitions to shape you as an individual and as a professional i would like to share with you a personal experience that allowed me to participate in such a transition with one of my dear patients named treva treva is a wonderful woman that i first met when she was in her mid 80s when i was working in our family medicine department here at the university as an outpatient family medicine physician i served as the primary care provider for both treva and her husband during this time i had the opportunity to learn about her history meet her children who would often accompany her to visits and understand her goals as she entered what would be the last decade of her life when i left my position as a primary care provider in the clinic setting saying goodbye to treva her husband and her family was honestly one of the most challenging goodbye visits that i experienced she had become more than just a patient now fast forward to about six years later i was now working as a physician in long-term care facilities to provide primary care to geriatric patients and skilled nursing care it was a wonderful day when i received an email stating that treva had been admitted to one of my facilities and was requesting to have me as her primary care physician our paths had crossed again and i could not have been happier while trevor was just as wonderful as she had been many years before her health conditions and her needs had certainly changed she was now a widow and she now needed the benefits of a memory care unit about one year after admission to the memory care unit she experienced a stroke and after hospitalization she returned to the same facility where i served as her physician to receive skilled therapy now unfortunately treva continued to decline and after many discussions with treva and her family the decision was made to transition to hospice in my role as a hospice medical director i continued to provide care for her until the time of her passing now while seeing a patient you love and care for have such drastic change in their condition can be a sobering experience i also felt very honored to be able to support treva and her family while this transition occurred i had the opportunity to reflect back on the goals and wishes that she herself had told me many years prior and i was able to ensure that her wishes were in fact met even at the time of her passing now i share with you this experience to let you know that as your job your career focus or your location may change you will find that your paths may repeatedly cross with the same individuals or individuals who remind you closely of those that you have cared for before regardless of the stage of the life that you provide care you can make a positive impact and help them lead the life that they envision finally today i would like to share with you a bit of motherly advice now as a mother of three daughters i probably give unsolicited advice more often than i would like to admit but here you go anyway so as you enter your pbl learning and as you go through your classwork you will find that there will be more information that you will ever think that you can actually absorb you will have to remind yourself that while you may have had perfect scores and always expected to be number one in your class until this point that it is okay to give yourself a break it is okay to not always be number one it is okay to not know every fine detail even if you have spent countless hours trying to understand it as important as it is to be well educated i believe it is equally important to be emotionally and mentally healthy i would now like to take a moment to also reach out to the family members and friends who are joining us virtually today whether you are a spouse a parent a child a friend or a colleague who are watching today with joy your work is also now beginning i encourage you to consider your new job as a supporter and a cheerleader while everybody knows that medical school is hard there is no way for your students to prepare themselves for the changes that lie ahead including increased stress heightened expectations and decreased sleep not only to mention the fact that medical school in a setting of a global pandemic is even more challenging than any of us have ever encountered before for loved ones watching today i encourage you to check in on your student regularly offer to provide support and even think about little ways to help as they enter this next phase in their life this may be something as little as bringing food when they are studying helping with laundry watching their children the night before a test or maybe even running simple errands i share this with you now because i would almost bet that many of you in front of me are like myself and take pride in being able to do things on your own and your abilities to self-sustain and while it is important for those watching to offer support it is equally important for those of you in front of me to be willing to accept that help you will be a better student and a better physician if your mental and emotional health take priority and last but not least remember to have fun some of my most treasured relationships and best memories came from attending medical school here at the university of missouri while medical school is challenging and there will be days that you question why you decided to actually pursue this lifelong dream i assure you that there will be many wonderful days ahead that will be filled with joy remind yourself that you have sacrificed and worked hard to get to this day and know that you can do it and you will do it remember the feeling of pride and accomplishment that you have today knowing that you are starting on this wonderful journey and know that you have every reason to be incredibly proud of yourself and the wonderful adventures that lie ahead congratulations again thank you very much dr urban we really appreciate you sharing your your life your story and just some pointers that will really help i think the students as they move forward so now we're going to begin the portion of the ceremony that you've all been waiting for members of the class of 2024 as i call your name please stand up put your white coat jacket on and it's right either in the seat next to you or on your seat after you put it on we'd like you to just stand and look straight ahead because we're trying to get everybody in the camera so your friends and family can see you and then after that i'll call the next name so hopefully that wasn't too confusing one by one you're going to stand you're going to keep standing with your white coat on so we can get a little picture of you and then go ahead and sit down after that so get ready here we go as i asked you a few days ago forgive me if i get a name wrong i'm going to do my best amy abdallah up yes you can clap you can definitely clap abdouli ramen abdully coffee abdi abood oh cyboken i hear [Applause] bashir al-ayubi rohit a lady [Applause] alexander alvarado anastasia anuzano [Applause] talia anderson [Applause] maxwell bar four elsie berry anna bauer bauman [Applause] abigail beach [Applause] madison bellamy clear voice joseph bilter brittany calkins deja carabella evan [Applause] carlin jacob sabolko isaiah chandra claire chapman leon chang sam chung justin chu stephanie clooky serena crawford devin kruzan [Applause] sydney datmo [Applause] matilda de visavich connor diaz jacob dunlap sabrina young patrick elliott rebecca ernst lauren flowers casey fogarty [Applause] tessa foti [Applause] kwame fem prong alexander genninger josie gieffer abigail glenn josh griezer bruce green gage graspino andrew gronik cameron hake brianna paul matthew hayden [Applause] alex hinken [Applause] emily hinkle [Applause] gracie hollering carlton homan kevin huschmann abigail hopkins [Applause] ted hyman [Applause] alexander and tagliata [Applause] marcus jackson [Applause] ryan job mackenzie johnson liz carranja shannon kivuni [Applause] isha kelker [Applause] dana key hannah coke dustin chris claudia kokuka emily lager [Applause] jessie lee benjamin liu kevin lewton samuel marshall maria martinez bethany mother madeline mcfarland nick mcgee madeleine mcfadden michael miller colt moeller [Applause] tony morcus andrew nelson muna akoya [Applause] john o'malley can't be with us today but we want to acknowledge that if he were able to be here that he would be putting on his white coat now kyle o'mara boomi omiyale [Applause] paola orosco madeleine pecis ashita patel justin perry alexis felipe [Applause] justin pierce [Applause] christina pratt [Applause] maya ramachandran siri we're what madison ritchie emily rife hero robles muhammad celine emily shaw [Applause] kevin schulte christine sholey jace semantic ashton show pick alexandria lane spurgeon this roof tagali to neil kumar pranav suri tyler swears megan sweeney [Applause] edward thom matthew tosic [Applause] daniel tui i'm just going to pause for a second give him a minute to run up to our balcony so this is one thing i mean you'll learn that we are very innovative and creative we figure out how to make it work and this is an example so carly troupe luke troyer sarah veneer faith veteran aaron vasaya jd wagner caitlyn weasel julie whitton brooke we will anna wilden george when andrew witus blake wojciechowski [Applause] issaca zuman [Applause] bia john now i'd like to invite dr zweig back to the microphone to administer the oath well you look great out there so now we're going to take the oath that will start you on your journey we often think of the hippocratic oath when the topic of a physician oath is raised but there are several that are widely used in the medical profession and this one is uh used often times because it's more contemporary so we at the university of missouri have used the oath of geneva and the values that are addressed in this oath and the ones that dr young walker spoke about were the values that you will adopt not only now but at the end of medical school as well there are the values that must be part of who and what you are as a physician a physician in training and a person and so we've modified the word somewhat of the oath of geneva so that it now applies to those beginning medical school and we've used it in the previous white coat ceremonies so i'll ask that at this moment you pledge yourself to these values that will guide you in your medical practice and in your life and the oath is printed on page three so with the class of 2024 please rise and repeat after me at the time of being admitted as a student member of the medical profession i solemnly pledge to dedicate my life to the service of humanity the health and well-being of my patient will be my first consideration i will respect the autonomy and dignity of my patients i will maintain the utmost respect for human life i will not permit considerations of age disease or disability creed ethnic origin gender nationality political affiliation race sexual orientation social standing or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient i will respect the secrets that are confined in me even after the patient has died i will practice my profession with conscience and dignity and in accordance with good medical practice i will foster the honor and noble traditions of the medical profession i will give to my teachers colleagues and students the respect and gratitude that is their due i will share my medical knowledge for the benefit of the patient and the advancement of health care i will tend to my own health well-being and abilities in order to provide care of the highest standard i will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties even under threat i make these promises solemnly freely and upon my honor class of 2024 please be seated so in your clinical years some of you will do your clerkships at mizzou and some will do your clerkships in springfield so at this time i'd like to invite two more fourth year students and they are at both campuses and josh griner and ramya ramadas will you please come to the stage for some closing remarks [Applause] hi friends how are you all doing good oh okay um my name is ramyan ramadas and my name is josh greiner we are both m4s i'm going into pediatrics and i'm going into emergency medicine first of all congratulations on putting your white coats on under the pressure of millions of eyes we you are our newly minted m1s now we want to thank dr young walker for choosing me josh eboneen grant to indole you all with some wisdom about how the next four years of your lives are going to go it's a little ironic that the four of us have been chosen to speak at your white coat ceremony given that we are all going into specialties that historically do not wear our white coats but uh here we are in writing this speech we reflected a lot about what we would have wanted to hear during a white coat ceremony as the four of us got together and discussed what we wanted to say we couldn't actually remember what was said to us during our ceremony so we suspect the same is going to happen to you when you quickly reach your fourth year we know that whatever we say today is not going to make you become a better medical student or a better doctor this institution is already prepared to give you the resources and the knowledge you need to succeed in this field our hope is that we and the rest of your peers can challenge you to be better people that wear white coats and better advocates for your community so soon after the ceremony probably on your way back home or next week when you start your pbl cases you're gonna have your first family member or friend call you and say hey run yet so i have this rash i've had it for about 10 years i've talked to my primary care doctor about it several times they don't really know what it is but i thought you know what you're a first year medical student you might know something about it so i'm going to send you a bunch of unsolicited pictures and can you tell me what's going on hi hi josh it's so good to hear from you after two years um you're right uh i'm just a first year medical student and it seems like you kind of have it under control with your your primary care physician but i can tell you about the tca cycle it's really important for your body so this is the first of many times where you're just gonna say i'm just a medical student and we are here to tell you today that you are you all are anything but just medical students as just medical students you have the ability to impact your patients and peers daily you have the power to inform and educate yourself and your patients the wealth of knowledge you will have access to over the next four years and the rest of your life is remarkable at the same time you have the power and duty to advocate on behalf of those same patients they will one day entrust you with their lives so be a good steward of that trust when we all stepped into our coats a little over three years ago we experienced a lot of the same emotions that you are probably feeling today nervousness thinking what's in store for me what are the next four years going to be like uncertainty asking yourself are they sure they chose the right person do they understand that it's just me what was i thinking getting into this pride reflecting on all your hard work which culminated in you reaching this goal and excitement as you realize that in just four short years your name will carry with it the honored initials of md all of these feelings are valid be nervous be excited be proud but as you get used to the feel of that new fabric on your back and shoulders we want to invite you to reflect on the privilege that you have to wear that coat many bright capable minds of different races genders origins and socioeconomic statuses simply did not have the access to the education and resources that many of us did even at a young age we sit in this room today yes because of our hard work but also because of the systems in place that support our success this day marks a momentous occasion as the official start of your journey in medicine it's a culmination of all your hard work and sacrifice it is also a day in which you start to hold an immense amount of privilege and power that is informed by the legacy and history of medicine both the good and the bad when you wear that white coat it is a moment of pride for you but it is also a symbol of anxiety and fear for many of our patients and that brings me to my first piece of advice as a medical student question everything that is one of your most important jobs and i'm not just talking about the steps of glycolysis or the mechanism of action of a medication when you see a patient both in your pbl cases and in your clerkships third and fourth year ask what happened to the patient to bring them here and how are systems around them impacting their experience here medicine has traditionally been a very exclusionary discipline to black and brown people those of different genders different sexualities different abilities different religions those whose mental health may look different than ours and other characteristics that make our population so so diverse not only has it been exclusionary it has actively oppressed these populations so given that before you delve too deeply into the biochemical pathways of metabolism and the pharmacology of every drug under the sun we invite you to do some research of your own read about james marion sims the quote father of modern gynecology and his surgical experimentation on enslaved black women anarcha betsy and lucy without anesthesia look up henrietta lacks and read about how one of the first human cell lines still used today in cancer research was established from a black woman's body without her consent or the consent of her family remember how recently medicine considered homosexuality and mental disorder and race a determinant of pain tolerance pay attention to the current political scene as it relates to health disparities including the opposition to medicaid expansion the rollback of the aca's transgender protections and recent supreme court decisions that allow businesses to deny health insurance coverage for contraception we mentioned all of these things not to make today a somber occasion but so that you may go forward and challenge the status quo join the ranks of notable historical figures like william montague cobb a black physician who fought for the inclusion of black doctors in washington dc's predominantly white hospitals join the ranks of your peers here at mizzou who just a few years ago created a fleet free clinic dedicated to providing necessary medical treatment to transgender individuals and other current m4s m3s and m2s who established a series of school-wide dialogues surrounding systemic racism just this year as participants in this profession we must consciously challenge systems like white supremacy capitalism and patriarchy that are pervasive in every part of society that exists solely to dehumanize our patients as you start medical school it is important that you use your collective voice privilege and power to speak out and advocate for these individuals make it a part of everything you do to ensure equity and justice for all of our patients as a medical student you will have the most time to spend with your patients take time to get to know each one of them their stories their fears their hopes their struggles and understand what makes them unique and how the systems around them have affected their lives take advantage of opportunities like med zoo our student run free clinic loaves and fishes to work with the homeless population here and eat healthy stay active to become a part of the community in which you will be living for the next four years of your life this will also allow you to promote resources that can be helpful to your patients get involved in research that actively advances health equity and challenges antiquated knowledge about race gender sexuality and other characteristics although you are at the beginning of your journey the experiences and knowledge you cultivate now will define your values as a clinical student a resident and an attending physician finally as you figure out what you want to do over the next four years and as you grow as people and as student doctors know that you have a community in your fellow medical students to support you in any way that we can smile or wave to romeo or me when you see us in the halls don't hesitate to reach out to us through phone email text carrier pigeon facebook messenger send us some tick tocks instagram dms whatever we're always a resource and again congratulations class of 2024. congratulations thank you very much ramya and josh and i really appreciate all of our students who were willing to come and speak and share so i have a couple more things for you to do before we finish earlier the dean mentioned the gold foundation in which we have placed a pen on the lapel of your white coat if you look in the pocket of your white coat you'll find another pan and that's the mizzou medpan please take a moment take out your pen put it on the lapel of your white coat it will serve as a reminder of the key characteristics that describe the physician we want you to become and the promise of the faculty and staff to do our best to help you thank you medical students for being here today and for choosing mizzou med to call your home for the next four years and to families friends faculty staff and the many others who've joined us today via the live stream also i want to thank again dr urban our students grant ebony josh ramia everyone else who has contributed to this wonderful ceremony we want to recognize the wonderful orientation leaders for the class of 2024. these second year students are deirdre dylan i don't know if you all are in here but if you are stand up real quick maybe not we'll still recognize them sophie ferret daisy hernan fernandez maz mageed there is a special thank you that we want to give to the mu health communications team in making it possible to live stream this ceremony as well as the jesse hall staff who've worked with us this entire week to help us to use the auditorium in a safe and effective way congratulations to the class of 2024 [Applause] this concludes the white coat ceremony for the class of 2024. students please rise and our photographer will try to take a group picture of you at your places um there we go thanks guys okay if you want to be seated we'll dismiss again by row so just hang tight a couple things make sure you grab the extra programs that's for you and your families and just anyone also if you can help us out if on the back of your chairs you'll see your name and the piece of tape if you can please take that off for us and that way we don't have to do that that would be great and then there'll be some bins when you exit so again hang tight and orientation leaders will dismiss you by row you

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Length: 92min 55sec (5575 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 31 2020