GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Performing a chant in Hawaiian, or an "oli kahea," Dr. Kalani Brady, associate clinical professor of medicine, presented the 62-member John A. Burns School of Medicine Class of 2007 at the beginning of the White Coat Ceremony yesterday evening at the Hawai'i Convention Center.
UH medical school
marks entry of
the Class of 2007
Sixty-two students were equipped last night for their first year at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.
They were presented with white coats, stethoscopes and books on doctoring at the traditional White Coat Ceremony at the Hawai'i Convention Center. The ceremony for the new class was organized and underwritten partially by the school's Class of 1982, which will observe its 25th reunion in four years when this year's new class has commencement exercises.
White coats, also called "cloaks of compassion," are presented to first-year students annually at medical schools across the country to make them more aware of their professional responsibilities.
Dr. William McKenzie, a clinical professor in the school's Department of Family Practice, discussed "The Measure of Greatness" in his keynote address. He received this year's Humanism in Medicine Award from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which conceived the White Coat Ceremony.
The ritual stresses the importance of the doctor-patient relationship and encourages students to accept the obligations "to be excellent in science, compassionate and lead lives of uprightness and honor."
Julie Woo, educational specialist in Medical School Dean Edwin Cadman's office, said there has been a lot of new technology in medicine, but "hands-on contact with the patient is still really important" and stressed to the students.
"The talk time they spend is where they really get to know the patient and see the patient as a whole," she said.
Dr. Patricia Blanchette, chairwoman of the Medical School's Department of Geriatric Medicine and president of the school's alumni association, presented the white coats. Class of 1982 representatives placed the coats on the new students' shoulders, and Blanchette presented the Class of 2007.
Stethoscopes were presented as a gift from the Hawaii Medical Association and Pacific Cardiology by Drs. Herbert Chinn, Calvin Wong, Sherrel Hammar, William McKenzie and Kalani Brady.
Wong, cardiologist and president of the Hawaii Medical Association, was a member of the medical school's Class of 1972, then only a two-year program, Woo noted.
Books on doctoring, a gift from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, were presented by Dr. Satoru Izutsu, senior associate dean of the school.
Dr. Theodore Harada, Class of 1977, presented the students with "Bates' Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking" as a gift from Friends of the Medical School.
Dr. Ken Arakawa, chairman of this year's ceremony, administered the Hippocratic oath, recited by class members and physicians present.
