Dylan Conroy: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS MAGIS

The Jesuit principle of “magis” means "more," and I have adopted this mantra as motivation to to do better and be better in all aspects of my life. Patients need more than a five minute question-and-answer barrage, more than a pre-op visit emphasizing technicality over humanity. As a prospective surgeon, I aim to spend as much time discussing my patients' weekends as I do their upcoming procedures. I want to know them as more than a left knee replacement or appendectomy, to know their lives as mothers and fathers and children. Magis will guide me through late night shifts and challenging cases, pushing me to always do more for every patient. 

-Dylan Conroy, MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Nazifa Rahman: My White Coat Means

MY WHITE COAT MEANS HUMILITY

My white coat is a humble reminder to me first and foremost of the responsibility I carry to serve and care for my future patients. It is an emblem of dedication, hard-work, and commitment. My white coat also gives me a greater sense of purpose. Medicine is about understanding and listening to other human beings just as much as it is about the study of human bodies.  A medical school student just starting out in her career in medicine, when I put on my white coat, the newness of it gives me a paradoxical feeling of both pride and humility. From my 4th grade elementary school teacher who encouraged my love of learning to my college mentors to my most beloved supporters, my parents, I’m humbled by all of these role models who shaped who I am and allowed me the opportunity to contemplate what this white coat means.  I hope to wear this humility and gratitude throughout my journey in medicine.

-Nazifa Rahman, MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Charlotte Goldman: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS ACCOUNTABILITY

My white coat envelops the day to day minutia of medical school to remind me of my accountability to my peers, myself and my profession. It represents my personal challenge to hold myself to a high standard of responsibility for others. It’s a reminder to improve myself academically beyond my grades, and seek experience and perspective so I can best serve my patients. 

-Charlotte Goldman, MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Lauren Klingman: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS RELINQUISHING ONE GOAL FOR ANOTHER

The decision to leave my career in theater was the hardest I’ve had to make. A lot of reasons compelled me to pursue the change; ultimately I felt like I had more to contribute to this world than what theatre would allow. I chose to give up all the roles I might have played for the final role of physician.

-Lauren Klingman, MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Gina Biagetti: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS SAFETY

Being in the Air Force, my patients will all have worked hard at keeping our country safe, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need someone to look out for their health as well.  My white coat means I’ll be there every step of the way, preventing disease and treating my fellow Airmen as the need arises. Safety isn’t just the way we prevent problems. It’s a bedside manner, open communication, and a promise to do my best for all my patients.

-Gina Biagetti, 2LT, USAFR; MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Clare Goggins: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS A BLANK CANVAS

My white coat symbolizes a blank canvas. It serves as a platform upon which the patients I encounter can depict their stories – both medical and personal. Even as medical students, patients entrust us with the most intimate, vulnerable details of their lives. Every time we walk into a patient’s room donned in our white coats, we carry with us the promise of a nonjudgmental, attentive ear and a helping hand.

-Clare Goggins, MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Katherine Wikholm: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS VOCATION

There is a quote attributed to Father Pedro Arrupe, S.J. that speaks of love. It goes, “Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

This is what the white coat means to me. Sure, I’m not always thrilled that medical school is what I do with my evenings and weekends, but nothing else makes me feel more grounded, more myself.  I have fallen in love with medicine, with my future patients, with the act of healing and the act of sitting with others in their suffering, in their humanity. To me, this is vocation.

-Katherine Wikholm, MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Kathryn Oskar: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS SOCIAL JUSTICE THROUGH SERVICE

Going to medical school and committing to becoming a physician only really made sense to me when I began volunteering through my undergraduate university's service learning program. Building relationships with people who had been marginalized and stigmatized by substance abuse, homelessness, mental illness, or HIV status--and feeling a sense of shared humanity between us--propelled me to prioritize working for social justice by leveraging my talents & privilege for others. Being a physician and combining science with direct service will let me do just that--it's the best way I can think of for me to positively impact the world. 

-Kathryn Oskar, MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Monika Gasiorek: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS HUMILITY

I have a love-hate relationship with my white coat. On the one hand, it empowers me to learn, serve, and advocate. On the other, it sets me apart from the individuals I wish to sit and speak with eye to eye, hand in hand. Nonetheless, through this conflict I have found compromise on one notion: that it is an extraordinary privilege to be invited into the lives of others, and an immense task to be worthy of their trust. 

-Monika Gasiorek, MD Candidate, Class of 2019

Christine Papastamelos: "My White Coat Means"

MY WHITE COAT MEANS APPRECIATION FOR THE COMMON HUMAN EXPERIENCE

My study of medicine has fueled a fascination with the question of what it is to be human. As I have come to see it, putting on my white coat articulates a desire to understand human form and function while satisfying a natural inclination to grasp the common human experience. It is this unique human connectedness that most draws me to medicine, a vehicle for improving the quality of life of others without difference or judgement.

-Christine Papastamelos, MD Candidate, Class of 2019