Incoming medical students presented white coats at annual ceremony

Josh Blackwell, 22 of Alabaster, decided he wanted to attend medical school at UAB after volunteering at Children’s Harbor when he was in high school. He said he knew he wanted a career helping others, and fell in love with UAB Hospital during the experience.

“Medicine is an area where I can help people in a tangible way by improving their quality of life,” Blackwell said. “UAB has a great medical program and was natural choice as an in-state student. Everyone I know who has come through the School of Medicine has great things to say about their education.”

The 186 students in the Class of 2019, including Blackwell, were welcomed to the UAB School of Medicine and presented their first white coats at the annual White Coat Ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 17 at UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. The ceremony marks the end of roughly three weeks of medical school orientation and the new students' first class, Patient, Doctor and Society, which focuses on the role that physicians play in society, with emphasis on professionalism, compassion, responsibility, ethics and the doctor/patient relationship.

Rohith Vadlamudi, 22 of Auburn, Ala., says he chose the School of Medicine because of its focus on patient-centered care. “UAB is a great medical school to learn about primary care and the physician-patient relationship.”

The ceremonial presentation of white coats to medical students, created by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1993, includes the signing of the oath of commitment to patient care that reminds incoming students of the dedication necessary to complete a medical education and of the compassion necessary to practice medicine.

“In a few moments, you will don your White Coat for the first time. It is a simple act, but represents one of the most important moments in your professional life,” said Nicholas Van Wagoner, M.D., Ph.D., assistant dean for Students and keynote speaker for the ceremony.  “With this coat comes great responsibility, and also great satisfaction.  In your White Coat you will care for your patients and improve the quality of their lives—even save lives.”

This year’s incoming class represents 52 areas of study from 54 colleges and universities, said Nathan Smith, M.D., dean of Admissions.  Smith said that, for the first time, women make up more than 50 percent of the incoming class.

Jita Chakrabarty, 24 of Huntsville, Ala., said she was anxious but excited about Sunday’s ceremony and the beginning of medical school. She said her father being a physician has always made her feel comfortable in a medical environment.

The students filed onto the stage of UAB’s Alys Stephens Center’s Jemison Concert Hall, where their names were read and deans helped them into their white coats, provided by the Medical Alumni Association. Each student was given a pin signifying humanism in medicine, a gift from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, and greeted personally by Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., F.A.C.S, senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the UAB School of Medicine.

“The White Coat Ceremony is a significant milestone in a student’s journey to becoming a physician, and I congratulate our students on the accomplishments they have achieved,” Vickers said.

Read more about the winners of the inaugural Sara Crews Finley, M.D., Leadership Scholarship and the Brewer-Heslin Award for Professionalism in Medicine.

Two new awards were presented at this year’s ceremony. Ryan Khoadadadi was named the inaugural recipient of the Sara Crews Finley, M.D., Leadership Scholarship, an honor awarded to upcoming third-year students who demonstrate exceptional academic and leadership abilities. Established in October 2014 by her family, the scholarship honors the legacy Sara Crews Finley, a pioneer in medical genetics, beloved faculty member and student mentor.

Former Gov. Albert P. Brewer appeared at the ceremony to present the inaugural Brewer-Heslin Award for Professionalism in Medicine to Martin J. Heslin, M.D., the James P. Hayes Endowed Professor of Gastrointestinal Oncology.  Brewer was inspired to establish the endowed award by Heslin’s professionalism with not only his patients, but with colleagues, staff and residents at UAB Hospital. The award will be presented annually to recognize faculty physicians who uphold the highest standards of professionalism in medicine.

Earlier in the day at a special reception, the Medical Alumni Association presented the Martha Myers Role Model Awards to three physicians who have made great contributions to medicine and patient care. The recipients were Daniel M. Avery Jr., M.D., director of Medical Student Admissions and professor of Rural Medicine at the College of Community Health Sciences at the University of Alabama; Susan Deane McCollum, M.D., an internist who has treated patients in Pakistan, Kenya and Zambia; and Henry Spira, M.D., a longtime psychiatrist and neurologist who passed away in 1981.

The winners of the Brewer-Heslin Award and the Finley Leadership Scholarship were also recognized at the reception, along with the students who are being inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society.