December 03, 2018
First-Year University of Maryland School of Medicine Students Receive Their White Coats During Ceremony
The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) held its annual White Coat Ceremony on November 1 at the Hippodrome Theatre in downtown Baltimore.
“Today marks a major milestone in what will surely be a momentous and lifelong journey,” said E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor, and Dean of the School of Medicine.
The White Coat Ceremony has been an annual tradition at the School of Medicine since 1997. During this event, first-year UMSOM medical students are presented their first white coats, which have long been the symbol of physicians and scientists induction into the medical profession. “This ceremony symbolizes our confidence in you, and our expectation that you, as a healer, will not only take care of patients, but, will do so with compassion and respect,” said Dean Reece.
Among these students are Ivan Buitrago.
“Everything changed when I began working in a large teaching hospital's intensive care unit,” Ivan said, who worked as an ER nurse for 16 years before deciding to pursue a career in medicine “I knew that everything I felt was lacking in my nursing practice and more was waiting for me in the medical profession.” Although, the vast majority of Ivan’s professional experiences has leaned towards emergency medicine and critical care, he looks forward to the exposure medical school will offer. “I am keeping an open mind in choosing a specialty. No matter the specialty, my future goal is to work to make a difference in my patient's lives.”
Malina Howard graduated from the University Maryland College Park (UMCP) with her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in just three years. Howard also was highly active in Maryland Athletics. She was a three-year starter for the Maryland Terrapins, playing 105 of 106 games in her career and averaging 20.5 minutes per game. In 2015, Howard won the Elite 89 award for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, which honors a student-athlete who has reached the pinnacle of competition, while also achieving the highest cumulative grade-point average. “Coming from a background of participating on the women’s basketball team, teamwork was an integral part of my daily life. I am thrilled to be a part of an institution that places such high value on the collaboration. I hope to learn as much as possible and develop into a caring, empathetic, well rounded physician.”
The White Coat Ceremony, which was sponsored by the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, is also intended to serve as an opportunity for families of first-year medical students to celebrate medical education at UMSOM and get a glimpse of what medical school is really like.
David Mallott, MD, Associate Dean for Medical Education, discussed the rigors of medical school, addressing the family members attending the ceremony. “Medical school is challenging, but remember you have all earned your way here,” he said.
The coats were put on first-year medical students by School of Medicine house leadership faculty to welcome their new colleagues to the profession of medicine. After being "coated," students recited a Code of Honor acknowledging their acceptance of the obligations of the medical profession.
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About the University of Maryland School of Medicine
Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 43 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished recipient of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically-based care for more than 1.2 million patients each year. The School has over 2,500 students, residents, and fellows, and more than $530 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total workforce of nearly 7,000 individuals. The combined School and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu/
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