09.12.05

David Irby, vice dean for education, welcomed the crowd in the packed gymnasium and in particular thanked the families of the students in the audience, acknowledging their vital role in bringing the students to this point in their young careers.

In his opening speech, Dean David Kessler reminded students that the doctor-patient relationship is "not a business contract," and he challenged them to become healers "who are willing to labor in the trenches, even if it means being the last to leave." Invoking images of doctors and nurses at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, whose white coats were bloodied and soiled in the fight "to keep people alive until rescue comes," he urged the students to consider what it means to be a healer "when there is no rescue," when "you are the only doctor for ten thousand patients in 105-degree heat."

Advisory College Mentor Sharad Jain, in the keynote address, pointed out that the suffering of people affected by the hurricane was also an important reminder of injustice in our society. He appealed to students to "not be satisfied until these injustices are corrected", and he asked them to think about "how you want to be remembered when you are on the other side of your career." Encouraging them to contemplate the many dimensions of professional conduct, Jain stressed the importance of "supporting one another, learning from one another, and leading by example."

For some students, the highlight of the ceremony was the common recital of the Oath of Louis Lasagna, who in 1964 wrote a modern version of the Hippocratic oath now widely used at medical schools.

"I got goose bumps at that point," reports first-year student Helena Hart. "Saying it together, in unison" made it clear to her that "we're in this together, we are here to educate each other. It's a huge responsibility, but I know the school will help me prepare for it."

Outside the gymnasium, second-year students had pitched a fundraising table and were selling Mardi Gras beads to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. Many students expressed appreciation that the ceremony had addressed the situation in the South and mentioned friends and relatives who were affected by the disaster. The Dean's vivid speech inspired a number of comments. First-year student Heather Bennett felt "a huge sense of responsibility that someday I will have to put my own needs aside and use my skills to help people." Harras Zaid thought "the Dean really drove home the point. This is not fiction!" Like most of the students after the ceremony, he looked both dazed and happy. "For the first time in my life, I'm excited to start school!"