On a New Path

Before the healing of patients, the donning of coats.

On Aug. 4, just moments before their first encounters with patients, members of the Class of 2019 at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine received their white coats, symbols of the medical and dental professions.

The day celebrated a medical school tradition while also posing a challenge to the students: You have become part of a community. Savor it, and help one another.

In remarks that welcomed students to their calling as healers, Ed Hundert, HMS dean for medical education, referenced the Greek god of medicine, Aesculapius. As president of the Aesculapian Club, which provides the white coats, Hundert urged the 165 students gathered in Armenise Amphitheater to remember the power that touch brings to the healing arts.

“We are here to minister to people who come to us for help,” Hundert said. “We are here to apply what is known, but also to extend what is known.”

Before sharing his fascination with the history of HMS, Hundert invited the students to “turn to the left and to the right.”

Parodying the routine at some fiercely competitive professional schools, he said, “We expect all three of you to graduate. That is why collaboration rather than competition should be the watchword for the day,” he said.

Then Hundert told them that the next four years are actually the least important phase of their medical education. After all, he said, “in the 40 years after you graduate, you will learn much, much more than while you’re here—and the most important phase of all was the time before you arrived, when your wonderful ethical values, integrity and dedication to others were formed.”

The students are the first to experience Pathways, a new curriculum that brings students into the clinic sooner while also encouraging them to become lifelong learners, Jeffrey S. Flier, HMS dean, told them.

“You will find yourselves in clinical settings soon, but you will also have more time to think deeply” about which specialty to pursue, Flier said. “Keep an open mind. ”

Although HMS is a place steeped in tradition, Flier said, “with this transformative new curriculum, you have the opportunity to be pioneers as well.”

Bruce Donoff, dean of HSDM, told students that dentistry is an important branch of medicine, reflecting the deep connection between oral and systemic health.

“It’s no accident that dental and medical students share training,” he said.

Sang Park, HSDM assistant dean for dental education, also emphasized the close ties.

“Your career goals may be different, but your professional relationship begins now,” she said.

Other speakers underscored the importance of students learning from one another—and from their patients.

Nancy Oriol, HMS dean for students and founder of the mobile outreach service called the Family Van, advised students to listen carefully to patients and hear where they are coming from.

“Their reality always trumps your knowledge,” she said.

Alvin Poussaint, HMS faculty associate dean for student affairs, also counseled the students to heed much more than signs and symptoms.

“Listen to your patients’ stories, learn how they perceive the world and how it affects them,” he said.

The students left the auditorium to meet with one of five societies, where their short white coats would be distributed, then they headed to Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The students’ backgrounds are varied—82 men and 83 women from 33 U.S. states, six other countries and 61 undergraduate institutions. Some graduated just this year, others a decade or more ago. One was a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army, while others are already serial entrepreneurs. Many worked in public health while others conducted experiments in basic research.

Before the students left, Hundert had some more advice.

“There is nothing more gratifying than taking care of patients,” he said. “Nothing.”

He then reviewed the students’ schedule for the day, including that afternoon’s patient encounter, to which they’d wear their white coats for the first time. “Now don’t be late for your first patient!”