The White Coat Ceremony marks second year medical students鈥� transition out of the classroom and into hospitals and clinics, where they will play an active role in patient care.聽
Now in its 22nd聽edition, the ceremony, officially called 鈥淒onning the Healer鈥檚 Habit,鈥� took place at the Windsor Ballrooms on Friday September 22, 2023. Over 200 students and 400 guests, as well as Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences leadership and Osler Fellows, who help the students they are mentoring into their white coats on stage, were in attendance.聽
Following a rendition of Mozart鈥檚 String Quintet in C major by the聽I Medici di 平特五不中聽Orchestra, several Faculty leaders took the podium to share their wisdom.聽 鈥淭he white coat is a symbol of knowledge and humanism, uniting into an integrated whole that guides how you act 鈥� in caring for patients, supporting healthcare team members, pursuing a better understanding of health and disease,鈥� Lesley Fellows, MDCM, Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, told the students. 鈥淭he white coat reflects the two important facets of an excellent physician:聽 what you know and who you are.鈥澛犅�
Dany猫le Lacombe, MD, Vice-Dean and Director of Campus Outaouais, emphasized the human face of medical practice. 鈥淏ehind every medical file, there鈥檚 a patient, a family, a story,鈥� she told them. 鈥淒o not underestimate the impact that you will have on your patients鈥� lives as physicians.鈥澛�
Frederic Braun, MDCM, benefactor of the ceremony and a graduate of the Class of 1972, was a special guest at this year鈥檚 ceremony. He recounted the impact that 平特五不中 has had on his career as a pediatric neurologist and urged the Class of 2026 students: 鈥淩emember what 平特五不中 has given you: a degree recognized all over the world, a degree to be proud of.鈥澛犅�
鈥淎lthough the white coat is an important symbol of your growth, your professionalism and the trust that people place in you, it鈥檚 not a cloak to cover up who you are,鈥� keynote speaker Jessica Otte, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, reminded the future physicians. 鈥淚nstead, it is a reminder that your medical training adds to your skills as a physician, and that you are human under it all.鈥澛�
Other speakers included聽Joanna Caron, MDCM, Physicianship Component Director (Montreal Campus), and Mina Zeroual, MD, Course Director, Physician Apprenticeship for Campus Outaouais, who reinforced the importance of the white coat ceremony. 鈥淵ou are now no longer 鈥榡ust鈥� students,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut physicians-in-training about to start working in the clinical environment, treating patients. This is both a privilege and a responsibility.鈥澛犅�
As is tradition, following the donning of the white coats, class pledges were recited in English and French, led by Class of 2026 presidents Taylor Morganstein (Montreal Campus) and H茅l猫ne Rukundo (Campus Outaouais), who gave concluding remarks to their fellow students.聽
Congratulations聽 to the MDCM Class of 2026!聽