First-Year School of Medicine Students Don Their ‘Cloaks of Compassion’

In a rite of passage marking their journey toward a medical career, the newest students at the Yale School of Medicine were formally "robed" in traditional doctor's coats at a ceremony held at the start of the new school year.

In a rite of passage marking their journey toward a medical career, the newest students at the Yale School of Medicine were formally “robed” in traditional doctor’s coats at a ceremony held at the start of the new school year.

Family and friends looked on as the coats — sometimes called “cloaks of compassion” — were bestowed on 100 students by medical deans and directors at the late-August event, formally known as the “White Coat Ceremony.”

School of Medicine Dean Dr. Robert Alpern welcomed the students and introduced keynote speaker Dr. Thomas J. Lynch Jr., director of the Yale Cancer Center and physician-in-chief of the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven.

Referring to the School of Medicine’s policy of not issuing grades, Lynch said, “We expect much greater things of you than could ever be engendered by grades. We have enormous confidence in you.”

Lynch, who received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Yale, also emphasized the importance of connections. He regaled the crowd at Harkness Auditorium with the story of one of his first cancer patients, who survived her illness in part because she was enrolled in a clinical research trial. “Kate went from eight weeks away from dying to seven years later as a healthy woman,” said Lynch. “Connections like the interactions between scientists and clinical doctors were key to her survival. This shows the power of connections with a patient and with a medical center.”

Lynch added. “The connection all of you will feel with each other, with faculty and most importantly, the connections you will develop with your patients, will make this one of the most thrilling times of your lives.”

Lynch reminisced about his first day on the wards in surgery when a fellow medical student fainted. “I thought I would be next,” he said. “You will go through moments like that and it’s the connection you feel with each other that will get you through those times. And it will get you through seeing a patient die for the first time.”

The incoming class is academically distinguished, with an average undergraduate grade point average of 3.78 and average MCAT scores of 11.9/section, the highest in the school’s history. The students graduated from over 40 colleges and universities, among them Yale, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Caltech, Columbia, Berkeley and Stanford.

Students in the Class of 2013 have achieved major accomplishments outside of their academic endeavors. Among the new students are successful entrepreneurs, social activists, published authors and young research scientists. Others are talented musicians, artists and athletes.

The class is international and diverse. Forty-seven percent are women. There are 9 African-American and 10 Hispanic students. The students were born in 18 countries, including Afghanistan, Bolivia, China, Eritrea, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

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