The 2023 UCD Medicine Clinical Commencement ‘White Coat’ Ceremony took place on Friday 10th February 2023 in UCD O’Reilly Hall. A key milestone in our medical students’ journey, the White Coat Ceremony marks the formal transition into full-time clinical training at our affiliated hospitals and general practices.
The proceedings were led by Professor Michael Keane, Dean of Medicine and Head of School, supported by a selection of our academic faculty. Students from Stage 4 of our direct entry undergraduate and Stage 2 of our graduate entry medicine programmes took part in the ceremony which was attended by many friends and family.
As part of the ceremony, students are ‘robed’ with white coats by members of faculty as an important symbol of their transition into the role of doctor in training. In opening the event, Prof Keane noted that this transition represents a landmark in the students’ education and one which he felt sure they would look back on fondly. He noted that with the privilege of clinical training comes great responsibility as our students are expected to exhibit empathy, dedication and the highest standards of professionalism.
The White Coat Ceremony is an important recognition of the extensive knowledge of biomedical science that has been mastered to date which puts the students in a position to apply this knowledge of the scientific basis of health and disease in the clinical arena. In UCD, we think it is important to mark this transition formally, and this tangible marker of career progression is very much appreciated by students, their families and their friends.
The awarding of a white coat is both practical and symbolic; in addition to protection of clothing and infection control, the white coat represents the increased professional privileges and responsibilities that accompany this transition. In addition to meeting the expectations for professional practice, conduct and ethics, our students are joining a medical community in which it is the doctor’s primary responsibility to be a strong advocate for their patients, above all other considerations.
This advocacy is particularly important in a period of shrinking healthcare resources, which reinforce the need for evidence-based best practice to guide patient care. This role also mandates development of leadership and teamwork skills, which our students will continue to seek to develop right up to their graduation and beyond. Our students’ behaviour in the clinical setting is geared toward protecting patients and optimising their outcomes, whether it be by rigorous hand hygiene, up to date vaccination against communicable diseases, or other aspects of evidence-based clinical practice.
Guest Speaker for the evening was Dr Rhona Mahony. We would like to thank Dr Mahony for her excellent address. The School would also like to thank our students, their families, friends and supporters for making this event a memorable occasion and an important milestone in our students’ education and training. We would also like to thank all those who followed proceedings from around the world on our webstream and the School staff for their organisation of the event.
A selection of photographs from this event are available on our Flickr site.
A recording of the proceedings is available on our YouTube channel.