First, Do No Harm

On Friday, we had our white coat ceremony. It was a big deal to me; although, I could tell it wasn't a big deal to everyone. It is a right of passage of sorts; your formal welcoming into the medical profession. It seemed that Ross took this very seriously. So seriously, that the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica usually attends (he had a meeting), the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica attended, a military color guard (since Dominica gained it's independence from Britain in 1978, their uniform is smiliar to the British uniforms) and the hierarchy of the Ross University Administration (including administration who flew in from the U.S. campus).

Another purpose of the ceremony is to remind students that the hard sciences are a necessity to medicine, but not everything. As a physician, you are in fact treating patients. A VERY successful Ross Alumni spoke about his experience in Public Health and encouraged us to work hard because anything is possible. Then opened up an invitation to public health and I believe even said that he would be more than willing to help any of us get training in public health.

Next, we had the cloaking and the pinning. A member of the medical faculty (with an MD) cloaks you with your student white lab coat (medical students wear SHORT lab coats). Next another faculty (with a PhD) pins you with your "humanitarianism in medicine" pin. After everyone was cloaked and pinned, we recited the "morning physician's prayer." Many medical schools have you recite the modern Hippocratic Oath, but Ross saves that until graduation (which is in Madison Square Garden, in case anyone wants to book their ticket to NYC to see me officially earn the title of "Doc. Bac" in just a few short years).

Hippocratic Oath—Modern Version written by Louis Lasagna in 1964.

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:I
will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I
walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to
follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are
required, avoiding those twin traps of over treatment and therapeutic nihilism.I
will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth,
sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's
drug.I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my
colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patent's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not
disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care
in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But
it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must
be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I
must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but
a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic
stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care
adequately for the sick.I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is
preferable to cure.I will remember that I remain a member of society, with
special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body
as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I
live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to
preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy
of healing those who seek my help."