USC Ostrow Class of 2015: White Coat Ceremony
In spite of the stifling late-summer Southern California heat wave, 144 members of the Ostrow School of Dentistry Class of 2015, their friends, and family gathered at the Bovard Auditorium for the traditional white coat ceremony on Friday afternoon.
With the acceptance of the oath* and the donning of their brand new white coats, I watched my friends transform into medical professionals right before my eyes.
There were those who never believed that they had what it takes to gain acceptance into dental school. They were now proudly wearing their white coats, displaying their newfound status as dentists in training.
There was the proud single mom, running around to videotape every single moment of this momentous occasion - the day when her son became a 'doctor'.
The White Coat Ceremony provided me with newfound optimism in the midst of the dental school application cycle drudgery. In my room is a pile of secondary applications, half-finished and unmailed. My email inbox is cluttered with a mess of unopened dental school secondaries. Apparently my motivation to submit them in a timely fashion had gone down the drain.
But I resolve to finish them within the next week, before my academic deadlines and extracurricular obligations begin piling up.
I still need to complete the secondary applications for UCLA, Midwestern University, ASDOH, Boston University, UNLV and Temple. I'm withdrawing my application to UCSF and Tufts. I've received emails from USC, NYU, University of Louisville, University of the Pacific, and Buffalo stating that my application is complete. Now, it's just the gut-wrenching waiting game.
Wondering if you are good enough to get accepted into dental school.
At this point, I'm optimistic yet scared. When will I get my first interview? What if I don't get ANY interviews? What if I receive a rejection letter? What if I don't get into any dental schools this cycle? What will I do with my life?
But then again, these white-coated dentists in training probably shared the same sentiments last summer. And look, they all made it in! So here's me keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that I will have the privilege of donning a white coat next August.
And a big congratulations to the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC Class of 2015. May you guys have an unforgettable four years here!
*****
*Oath: The Making of an Oral Health Professional
I will dedicate my professional life to regarding each patient as a whole and complex person, promoting health to all people, identifying risk factors and serving as an advocate for disease prevention, using the very best clinical diagnostic strategies, providing the finest clinical treatments and therapeutics, and continuing to learn, revise and enrich my knowledge throughout my career.
I dedicate my life to the health of those whose lives I directly or indirectly touch: my family and friends, the broader community, my individual patients and their families.
I extend to the learned faculty, staff and fellow students my full respect and gratitude which is their due.
I will always practice my profession with the highest integrity, thoughtful judgement, and skills derived from scientific evidence.
I will always conduct myself with conscience, compassion and dignity, with the health and well-being of my patients and community as the first consideration.
I promise to respect the privacy of my patients.
I will maintain by all means in my power the noble traditions of the dental profession.
I will honor my fellow students as professional colleagues, and function in such a fashion as to earn their trust and respect and, together, we will nurture our shared humanity.
I will always provide oral health care without consideration of religion, nationality, race or ethnicity, gender or sexual preference, disabilities, political choices or social and economic standing.
I will always maintain the highest respect for human life.
I make these promises without hesitation, freely, and upon my Honor.
Song of the Day
Collide - Howie Day
