Sunday, August 17, 2008

White Coat Ceremony

Yesterday I participated in my school's white coat ceremony which represents the official start of medical school and the end of orientation.  The donning of the white coat symbolizes the student physician taking upon them the mantle of a physician for a life-long pursuit of learning and humanitarian service.  The coat is placed on us by the Dean of the school.


You also might notice that our coats are much shorter than those that are worn by the faculty and other doctors.  The symbolism of this is that with each step of our journey (school, internships, residency, and full-practice physicians) our coats increase in length commensurate with our skills, knowledge, and abilities.Really, I kind of look at this experience as a bright spot at the beginning of a very long and dark road.

 I am so grateful for my family and friends who have helped me get to this point, and especially for my beautiful and patient wife Britta (who will also be my patient de facto as I learn and need practice . . . hope you're ready!).  I'm sure I'll be even more grateful to you all when the road is completed.


5 comments:

Sarah Peterson said...

that's cool Scott. Looks like you are ready and excited for the future! woohoo! I like the picture of you and Britta- it's cute! Britta is so pretty.

Mom and Dad Pete said...

What an amazing ex[erience! Wow! That's the first step in a long journey-how exciting!(if any one can do it--you can!)Yippee!(We miss you and btw--Livie misses you too.)

Alisha said...

very cool. i look forward to swaping stories with you!!

Ryan said...

Congratulations! Did you pick a coat up for me, like I asked? : )

Scott said...

Sorry, but they didn't have any tweed with leather elbows. . . I'll keep looking, though. :)