Fall 2010 - Eastern Virginia Medical School

Fanning the flamesOf An Old TraditionJust days before their graduation in May, EVMSfourth-year medical students came together fora special ceremony to mark the transition fromapprentice to practitioner.With administrators and alumni looking on,the students took the waist-length white coats theyhad worn as students for four years and placed thegarments into a ceremonial fire. Their graduationfrom medical school permits them to dress in thelong white coat of the physician.The White Coat Retirement Ceremonyformalizes a practice that graduating students haveundertaken for decades.“This is a great start to a new tradition incarrying on an old tradition,” said Daniel A.Neumann, MD, incoming president of the EVMSMedical Alumni Association, as he watched flamesconsume the coats.The alumni association sponsored the ceremonyat a farm in Windsor as part of a celebratory eveningthat served to welcome the newest class ofmedical graduates. The soon-to-be graduatesenjoyed a barbecue feast, tried their hand at thecorn hole boards and danced into the eveningto the tunes of the local band Ampersand. Thealumni provided buses to carry the students to andfrom the farm in the western reaches of HamptonRoads.Dean Gerald J. Pepe, PhD,oversaw the white coat retirement.He said the ceremonywas patterned after the ritualused to retire an Americanflag.“We recognize the starsand stripes as perhaps themost enduring symbol ofour nation,” Dr. Pepe toldthe crowd. “In much thesame way, the white coat isrecognized as the universalsymbol of medicine.”Dr. Pepe called the studentsforward by specialty to placetheir coats on the fire.“Today your coats show the wear of four longyears of toil and difficulties, but also four years ofenlightenment and joy,” Dr. Pepe said. “They’vebeen your constant companions and have servedyou well along the way. But it’s now time to leavethese fond symbols behind.“With immense respect, we commit thesecoats, worn in worthy service, to the purgingflame,” he read. “By so doing, we mark the end ofone important chapter in your lives, but also thebeginning of another.”The EVMS Medical Alumni Association sponsored the White Coat RetirementCeremony. Among those on hand for the event were, from left, Joan Rose, MD, Classof 1981; 2010 Class President Patrick Cronyn, MD; Alumni Association PresidentDan Neumann, MD, Class of 1997; Alumni Relations Director Melissa Lang; MollySmith, MD, Class of 2001; and Devon Shick, MD, Class of 2010.In a tribute to the graduates, the alumni associationpresented Class President Patrick Cronyn witha long white coat. The class president received thecoat as recipient of the EVMS Alumni AssociationSenior Student Award.The students reciprocated with a presentationof their own. Mr. Cronyn presented Melissa Lang,director of alumni relations, with a framedfragment of a burned coat.See more photos and video of the ceremony online atwww.evms.edu/magazine.alumniwww.evms.edu FALL 2009 35