WHO: Sixty students entering Mercer University School of Medicine.
WHAT: Will participate in the School of Medicine’s White Coat Ceremony, where they will be “cloaked” in their first white coat and get their first lesson in compassion. Dr. Richard Elliot, a professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, will deliver the keynote address to the students, their family members and friends.
WHEN: Sunday, Aug. 15, 2004 at 3 p.m.
WHERE: The Grand Opera House, 651 Mulberry Street, Macon, Georgia
WHY: Although compassion has always played a significant role in patient care, it has traditionally not been a formal part of medical school curriculum. Through the White Coat Ceremony, Mercer School of Medicine helps to clarify for the incoming students the true meaning of humanism in medicine – that as physicians they should strive not only to cure their patients, but also to care for them. In addition to receiving a white coat, each student will be given during the ceremony a pin inscribed with the words “humanism in medicine” from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.
Media interested in covering the event should contact Jenny Butkus at (478) 301-4037 or on Sunday via cell phone at (478) 731-3668.
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