New Residents Celebrated in Long White Coat Ceremony

Sponsored by the Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME), the second annual Resident Long White Coat Ceremony celebrated the transition by having the newly minted physicians don the coats that indicate the start of a new phase of their training: residency.

When students enter medical school, they receive short white coats at a ceremony that serves as a bonding experience with the profession.  

“The long white coat symbolizes the trust patients place in their physicians and the responsibility to act professionally while serving patients and the public,” says Roseanne C. Berger, MD, senior associate dean for graduate medical education.

The ceremony included 45 UB graduates, nearly a third of the medical school’s 2016 graduating class — a sign that UB residency programs are increasingly attractive to UB medical school graduates.

In 2015 and 2014, a UB residency program was the choice of 30 and 28 UB graduates, respectively.

During the last year of medical school, students from across the country are “matched” with a residency program where they train in a medical or surgical specialty from three to seven years.

These 185 residents chose to start their careers as physicians in Buffalo and will provide patient care under supervision of UB faculty in hospitals and clinics.

Residents were permitted to ask a close family member to attend the ceremony, says Susan M. Orrange, PhD, GME’s assistant dean for education and resident services.

“We wanted to better educate those closest to the residents about what medical residency entails, both professionally and personally, in order to better support them,” she says.

Guests were invited to stand around the perimeter of the room, symbolizing a circle of support, as the new residents “coated” each other.

“This practice sets our ceremony apart from others as it recognizes the central importance of peer support in building humanism connections with each other and upholding humanistic values during residency,” Orrange says.

The ceremony was held June 21 at the Center for Tomorrow on UB’s North Campus.

In addition to receiving their long white coats, the residents also recited the Hippocratic Oath and the UB Resident Code of Conduct. 

The ceremony occurred on Education Day, during which residents received information on topics ranging from health issues in Buffalo’s population, communication and cultural issues to patient privacy, quality improvement and safety.

It was part of UB’s five-day medical resident orientation, which also included background on the university, the Western New York community, its population and its health care systems.

During orientation, residents visited several UB-affiliated teaching hospitals, interacted with program faculty and, in some cases, worked with UB’s Clinical Competency Center to assess interactions with standardized patients — individuals trained to simulate real patients with specific conditions.

Before arriving on campus, residents completed online tutorials, including modules on addiction, pain medicine and safe prescribing practices.   

The event was planned in collaboration with UB’s Richard Sarkin/Emeritus Faculty Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which launched the tradition of holding white coat ceremonies in the 1990s to symbolize that humanism remains at the core of all medical care.

The UB Medical Alumni Association sponsored a reception following the ceremony, adding support and welcome from alumni, faculty and the community.

UB is one of only 14 medical residency programs in the country that is home to a residency chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.