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Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs Jean E. Ramsey leads the class in reciting the Hippocratic Oath.
Compassion: The Most Important Tool in Your Black Bag
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n August 2, students eager to start their medical education lined the walkway under the Talbot Building arches leading to the massive white tent on the green. Hundreds of family members and friends held cameras and phones high above their heads to capture images of their loved ones, who were proudly displaying short white coats draped over their right arms. A symbolic rite of passage, the White Coat Ceremony marks a vital first step for medical students as they pledge their commitment to their profession and to the trust they must earn from their patients.
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Boston University School of Medicine
Associate Dean for Student Affairs Angela H. Jackson, MD, welcomed the students and their guests. “You have met academic and personal challenges, had successes and failures, sacrificed much, and accomplished a great deal to reach this moment,” said Kristen Goodell, MD, associate dean for admissions. “As you move into the next phase of your journey, each of you will struggle, each of you will have doubts, and at some point, each of you will look in the mirror and wonder, can I really do this? “What will sustain you in these difficult moments will be your own skill and talent, your own resilience and strength of character, the support of your classmates, your family and friends, and the commitment of your teachers and mentors,” she continued. “For us as a faculty, it will be a privilege to walk part of the way with you and perhaps to guide you, just a little bit. . . . Dean Antman, it is my honor and my privilege to present to you, the Boston University School of Medicine entering Class of 2019.” Drawn from a pool of more than 9,000 candidates through five entry pathways and 65 undergraduate institutions, the class is 46 percent women and 14 percent from underrepresented groups in medicine. Special in many ways, the class includes members from 28 US states. More than 88 percent are at least bilingual and, as a group, speak 25 different languages. At times, the ceremony was lighthearted. The assembled crowd laughed appreciatively when BUMC Provost and BUSM Dean Karen H. Antman, MD, cautioned parents, “Don’t be
