>>New USF medical students don their first white coats

Tampa, FL (August 28, 2006) -- To bagpipe strains of the upbeat Scottish tune “Prince Charles’ Welcome to Lochaber,” 120 new USF medical students marched two by two into the USF Health Auditorium August 25 for the 10th annual White Coat Ceremony.

 

The procession was led by College of Medicine faculty member Gregory Nicolosi, PhD, who wore a kilt and played the bagpipes.  The ceremony is the culmination of the students’ three-week orientation course – a milestone that marks their entry into the profession of medicine.  It establishes a psychological contract for beginning medical students, emphasizing the importance of balancing excellence in science with compassionate care.

 

The students were called to the front of the stage one at a time and presented their first white coats by physician faculty members Bryan Bognar, MD; Susan Hover, MD; Peter Dunne, MD; and Alexander Reiss, MD. Then, in unison the students recited an oath, which they, as a class, had adapted from the Hippocratic oath.

 

Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the Collge of Medicine and vice president for USF Health, welcomed family and friends of the Class of 2010 to the ceremony. “Over the next four years, they will develop into accomplished physicians who will become our colleagues and take care of future generation of patients,” Dr. Klasko said"

 

Other speakers were Steven Specter, PhD, associate dean for COM Admissions and Student Affairs; pediatrician Dan Riggs, a COM Class of 1981 alumnus; Guraman Bhullar, president of the COM Student Council; Paul Wallach, MD, vice dean for Educational Affairs; and Jose Lezama, MD, associate professor of medicine and 2005 recipient of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award.

 

Senior medical student Bhullar encouraged his junior colleagues to support one another and to appreciate the perspectives of other health professionals. “It’s not just about being a doctor anymore – it’s about coming together as a team to provide the best care for our patients,” he said.

 

The USF medical school’s entering class had a record number of applicants, with one student admitted for every nine qualified applicants. The class is a racially and ethnically diverse group and, mirroring a national trend, the women medical students outnumber the men for the third consecutive year.

 

 

 

- USF Health -

 

USF Health is the University of South Florida’s partnership of the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health, the School of Basic Biomedical Sciences, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, as well as the USF Physicians Group. USF Health’s research funding last year was $134 million – more than half of which came from federal sources. Last year, USF Health clinicians cared for more than 31,000 patients and oversaw 396,000 patient visits.