For U of A dental students, wearing a white coat means they've entered a point in their education where they will start the clinical part of their training and become an integral part of patient-care delivery. On May 1, the 12th annual white coat ceremony was held for the second-year dental students.
Each year the second year dental students look forward to receiving their white coats as they get to put their first two years of didactic learning into action.
"The ceremony symbolizes a move towards patient care," said Dr. Paul Major, lead of the School of Dentistry. "We hope that once the students step into the role of a clinician, they will feel a sense of accountability and awareness that they are now part of an integral team of healthcare practitioners providing care to people in need."
Dr. Alan Kilistoff, associate chair, clinical affairs for the School, led the charge to the students and said: "My charge to you is to continue to grow and enjoy helping people. As Benjamin Franklin said 'Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning' remember to respect yourself, your family and friends, those around you, and especially the people who entrust their health to your care."
On behalf of class 2015, Christina Chow and Kevin Luft, second year dental students, accepted this charge.
"The journey to get here has harbored a great respect for the privileged position that we are in," said Christina Chow. "As we begin this next stage of our education, we must take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to professionalism. Humbled by the trust that our patients place in us, we must care for them with integrity, respect, honesty and compassion."
Kevin said, "Our patients will be real people with real needs, no longer can we screw in new teeth if we mess up, or rest our elbows on our mannequin's faces." He also made the comment that "never will we have the opportunity to learn from such knowledgeable instructors in the type of setting that the U of A dentistry clinic provides."
"We are very honored to be moving on to the next stage of our dental education," said Kevin and Christina. "We feel privileged to be able to serve our future patients."
Congratulations class of 2015!