The White Coat Ceremony was organised for the seventh time at the University of Pécs Medical School on September 16, where Hungarian, English and German program medicine and dentistry students starting their pre-clinical studies were presented with the symbol of the medical profession, the white coat.
The event took place in the aula of the Medical School in Pécs and was attended by the UP Clinical Centre heads, and department professors and heads.
The future doctors and dentists were greeted with speeches given by dr. Dóra Reglődi university professor, vice-dean for science, dr. Tamás Tényi university professor, vice-dean for student well-being and external relations, dr. Dóra Endrei university docent, vice-director of the Clinical Centre, dr. Erika Pintér university professor, director of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, dr. Péter Than university professor, director of the Orthopaedic Clinic. The speeches contained advise for the continued education and future careers of attending students.
The attendees were also welcomed by the English-German Student Council (EGSC) and the Hungarian Student council in both Hungarian, English and German. After the speeches, the students were ceremoniously presented with their white coats.
The 2022 White Coat Ceremony was broadcast live on the UPMS EGSC Facebook page, the recording is available here:
The White Coat Ceremony was attended by the delegation of the Kassenärztliche Vereininung Sachsen – KVS) as well. As it is known, the Pécs Medical School and the Saxony association of general pracitcioners have been cooperating for eight years now, and they were joined by the Saxony Ministry of Health two years ago. Thanks to them, there are fourty students admitted to the German program of the Medical School each year. The KVS-delegation has visited the entire Medical School during their stay, including the Department of Anatomy and the Medical Skills Development and Innovation Centre.
“My goal is to become a good doctor, who understands and treats their patients with respect.”
“The event is very important to me, it means the start of my career. I feel honoured, and with four semesters of successful exams behind me, I am also proud of myself. The White Coat Ceremony allows me to celebrate this with my friends and family” – said Valentina Epp, who is a general medicine student in the German program. As she explained, it is difficult to get into medical training in Germany, which is why she turned to options in Hungary and arrived in Pécs. She says she is still facing a long and arduous road in her studies. Her main motivation in medicine is to help those suffering from physical and mental problems. She spent a year in Cape Town in South Africa after high school graduation, where she worked with mentally disabled patient, which allowed her a glance into social work. “My goal is to become a good doctor who understands and treats their patients with respect. I believe that the key to the highest quality of patient care is the holistic approach.”
Saadeddin Dababish Palestinian dentistry student was very excited for the White Coat Ceremony. Their studies can be summed up a rollercoaster, that helped them become more disciplined and helped them believe in themselves. As they explained, they chose dentistry based on their father’s extended experience, and they felt even on the first day of university that this is what they would like to do, what would make them happy. “I believe that there are more important things in life than money. For me, empathy means motivation, and the world needs a lot of empathy right now” – they said, adding that the ceremony helps participants to see themselves as worthy of their profession.
“Choosing medicine was influenced by various factors, I become interested in the human body and all books and magazines on the topic very early on. My mother works in healthcare, so the topic came up at home a lot. I started thinking about a career in medicine more and more, and when the time came, I could not have imagined studying anything else” – said Martin Grim, general medicine student in the Hungarian program.
“Finishing the basic module was very odd, and felt very quick. Sadly, we are the year who were dropped right into online education, and our first year was almost fully virtual. So the first real university year for us was the second one, which proved to be a challenge. Moreover, starting the in-person classes was really tiring and hard sometimes. But I think that every took to these challenges very well. And now, in the first weeks of the third year, it is almost like we entered a completely different world, and we are all very excited for what’s to come. The White Coat Ceremony is a huge milestone in the life of all students. Aside from living everyone’s dream in putting on the white coat, for me this also means that I’m in the right place and this is what I want to do” – he added.
The ceremony was photographed by Dávid Verébi:
