First, Do No Harm

First-year medical students at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso, and the School of Medicine in Lubbock recently received their first white coats during traditional white coat ceremonies.

The White Coat Ceremony is designed to clarify for students, prior to their entrance into the medical community, that a physician’s responsibility is to both take care of patients and to care for patients. More than 100 medical schools in the U.S. now have white coat ceremonies.

Approximately 82 students in the Class of 2015 at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine donned their hallmark white coats — symbols of their chosen profession — at the Chamizal National Memorial Theater in El Paso.

New medical students in Lubbock’s Class of 2015 celebrated their entrance into the field of medicine at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. The new Lubbock class includes 34 students from Texas Tech University, 16 from the University of Texas, 12 from Texas A&M and others are from other top universities such as Stanford, Duke, Yale and Harvard University.

At the end of each white coat ceremony, each group of students recited their class’ Hippocratic oath. The oaths, although personalized by each entering class of medical students, always include the same principals: to do no harm, avoid overtreatment and remember your obligation to society.

President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., addressed students at both ceremonies. Other speakers included Jose Aun, M.D., president of the El Paso County Medical Society; Jose Manuel de la Rosa, M.D., founding dean of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine; and Steven L. Berk, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, provost and executive vice president.

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