UQ – Ochsner Clinical School Celebrates 121 Doctors-in-Training at White Coat Ceremony

The University of Queensland (UQ) – Ochsner Clinical School celebrated 121 future doctors at the 8th Annual White Coat Ceremony. Although traditionally celebrated in the first year of Medical School, the White Coat Ceremony for the Ochsner Clinical School students is commenced in the beginning of year three as they embark on the clinical phase of their medical school education.

Associate Professor Leonardo Seoane, MD, Head of the Ochsner Clinical School, welcomed the students and guests to the ceremony and highlighted the significance of the white coat.

“The white coat that you will receive today is a symbolic nonverbal communication used to express and affirm a fundamental belief in being a compassionate professional who places patients first and upholds the long standing code of ethic we hold dear as a physicians,” Dr. Seoane told the students. “Many patients now view the white coat as a ‘cloak of compassion,’ a symbol of the caring and hope they expect to receive from their physicians.”

The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Ronald Amedee, MD, Professor at the UQ – Ochsner Clinical School and Ochsner Designated Institutional Officer (DIO) for Graduate Medical Education.

The ceremony concluded with the students reciting the Oath of Clinical Students to officially begin the next phase of training.

The Ochsner Clinical School is a partnership with the University of Queensland in Australia where United States students spend their first two years of study on the Brisbane campus, followed by years three and four of clinical education in the Ochsner Health System hospitals and clinics.

The White Coat Ceremony dates back to 1989 when Dr. Arnold P. Gold, a teacher and pediatric neurologist for more than 40 years at Columbia University, came to the realization that handing out white coats and reciting the Hippocratic Oath after four years of medical school was really too late. Gold felt that students needed well-defined guidelines regarding the expectations and responsibilities appropriate for the medical profession prior to their first day of education and training. This belief inspired the creation of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation for the advocacy and sponsorship of what has become known as the White Coat Ceremony.

“These students have dedicated themselves fully to this program, and it truly shows,” said William McDade, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Ochsner Health System. “We are privileged to serve as teachers and mentors, providing each student with skills needed to succeed as a healthcare professional. We look forward to the next two years as they continue on this journey.”

The members of the 2017 UQ – Ochsner Clinical School graduating class boasted an impressive 95% Match Rate through the National Residency Match Program (NRMP), which is above the national match rate for United States medical schools.

For more information on the UQ – Ochsner Clinical School, visit education.ochsner.org.

01/16/2018