On Sunday, there were lots of smiles, hugs, cheers and tears from students and their families at the School of Medicine鈥檚 White Coat Ceremony, which formally marks the students鈥� entry into medical school.听

At the annual ceremony, UofL faculty and the local medical community formally welcome first-year medical students (known as 鈥淢1s鈥�) by presenting them with their first white coat, a gift from the Greater Louisville Medical Society. They also received their first stethoscope, courtesy of the Stethoscopes for Students program, an effort funded by alumni of the UofL School of Medicine.

The class of 2022 is a diverse group, with the youngest being 19, and the oldest 32. Forty-three percent of the class is female, and 11 percent are from groups underrepresented in medicine. Twelve percent are from rural Kentucky counties. The 163 were selected from a pool of 3,558, and come from 18 different states and 58 different colleges and universities.

Compassion was a theme of the ceremony. Speakers urged students to take care of themselves so that they could take better care of others.

UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, PhD, gave the students three pieces of advice: to take care of themselves, to look out for one another, and to recognize that being a doctor meant they were part of a broader community.

鈥淩emember, you will be treating a whole human,鈥� she advised. 鈥淲hen you are physicians and you are working with a patient, the patient is more than an aching knee or a tumor, or something else that鈥檚 wrong with them. You need to see the psychosocial dimensions of every individual. The more you cultivate your own humanity, the more you cultivate who you are and the better off you will be.鈥�

She told them they had chosen a noble profession. 鈥淵ou will see us when we are at our most vulnerable, our most nervous, most scared, and we will look to you to be our partners, our coaches, to be our cheerleaders, and I am thrilled that you鈥檝e chosen to embark on that journey with us at UofL.鈥�

Keynote speaker Barry Kerzin, MD, a Buddhist monk and founder and president of the Altruism in Medicine Institute and the personal physician to the Dalai Lama, also urged the students to practice self-care, along with humility and gratitude.

鈥淭he more you give, the more you receive. That鈥檚 enough. It says it all. 鈥� The more you love, the more you are loved. The more you are kind, the more kindness is shown to you,鈥� he said.

He noted, 鈥渢hese are kind of compasses to try to orient our lives. Of course we won鈥檛 achieve these things overnight, maybe not 鈥� probably not 鈥� fully achieved in a lifetime. But these are goals, these are aspirations.鈥�

He said gratitude was 鈥渆xtremely important.鈥�

鈥淭o feel gratitude for the next breath that you take. That you鈥檙e alive. It鈥檚 wonderful stuff,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t makes you feel good, makes you appreciate life. Even when you鈥檙e having a rough time.鈥�

He said humility, by decreasing the ego and arrogance, increases compassion and love.

鈥淪o in terms of a doctor, make a proper diagnosis, give a treatment, but also support the patient emotionally and the family emotionally. That鈥檚 critical, and that鈥檚 what makes a good doctor.鈥�

After Kerzin鈥檚 speech, the students filed across the stage in groups, where UofL doctors helped them don their coats. The students鈥� first white coat is a short white coat, and after they graduate from medical school, they are entitled to wear a long white coat. The white coat symbolizes cleanliness and the compassion that inspires students to become physicians. As they walked from the stage, they were handed their stethoscopes.

Led by Greg Postel, MD, executive vice president for Health Affairs at UofL, the students then took the Declaration of Geneva, a more modern version of the Oath of Hippocrates, in which a new physician swears to uphold professional ethical standards.

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鈥淐ompassion is the chief reason we all go into medicine,鈥� Kerzin said. 鈥淩esearch suggests at the third year of medical school, compassion in medical students decreases significantly. I’ll address how to sustain our compassion through our聽training and out in the world practicing medicine.鈥�

The ceremony will welcome the class of 2020 to the UofL School of Medicine. The students each will receive a white coat, a gift of the Greater Louisville Medical Society, and a stethoscope, provided by an alumnus of the school through . The white coat symbolizes cleanliness, as well as the sense of compassion that inspires students to become physicians. At the ceremony, the students will recite the , promising to serve humanity and honor the traditions of the medical profession.

Kerzin, a California native, is a board-certified family medicine physician and an honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine. He is a former assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. After traveling to India in the 1980s to help train Tibetan doctors in modern research methods, he studied Buddhism and meditation and ultimately was ordained as a Buddhist monk. Kerzin now provides medical care to the poor in India and serves as a personal physician to the Dalai Lama in addition to traveling around the world to teach about meditation and compassion. He founded the 聽with the goal to bring more compassion into health care.

UofL School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony
Sunday, July 24, 3-5 p.m.
Louisville Downtown Marriott
280 W. Jefferson St., Louisville, Ky., 40202