White Coat Ceremony

First thing first.  I was able to get the parking ticket situation resolved.  An email came out on Thursday telling us what to do (I wasn't the only one who got a ticket).  It was simply a matter of going to the Traffic and Parking office and paying $5 for a "day pass" for the day before.  While I was a little bugged, I was much happier to pay $5 than $50.  But I've still got a lot to figure out about parking at / around the university.  One of the only things that I don't like.  Now on to more ceremonial things.

Monday afternoon, Jess and I headed over to the student union building.  It's a new building, finished earlier this year, and it's really pretty nice.  The ceremony was held in one of the ballrooms upstairs.

Pretty stuff hanging from ceiling of the ballroom

Nearly all of the 200 or so new students were there, many with members of their family present (probably more than had RSVP'd, because there weren't enough seats for everybody).

There we are, before all the action started.

I could actually see Jess taking the picture, thus my smile at the camera.

We then heard from some of the higher-ups at the med school, several of whom shared some nice things about what it means to be a doctor, and the symbolism of the white coat (integrity, trust, etc).  After the speeches were done, we were called up row by row to receive our new short white coats (you get a long one once you get your MD) that were embroidered with our names on them (very cool).

Your coat is placed on you by members of the administration, and several handshakes and "good luck"s and "you'll do great"s are given.  This was a cool ceremony and a cool milestone.  Unfortunately, it was also kind of boring, like a graduation ceremony.  So I'm glad that I don't have to do this too often.  After all of the hoopla, we shuffled over to another room where ice cream was provided and mingled for a bit.  We snapped a few pictures on our way out, and then I hung up my coat in my closet when we got home because, as far as I know, I probably won't be wearing for two more years when I begin my clinical rotations.  But it's still spiffy.

Also, here's an official news post about it from the College of Medicine.