Before a standing-room-only audience of wellwishers, 140 medical students of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Class of 2023 received symbolic white coats during a rousing ceremony held Tuesday, September 17, in Stern Auditorium. Always a jubilant affair for the students and their families and friends, and for Mount Sinai Health System leadership, faculty, and alumni, this year’s event was marked by frequent applause as speakers brought special attention to key issues in medical education and health care.
After receiving their white coats, the aspiring physicians also recited a student oath they wrote— a set of principles to guide them. They committed to be innovative collaborators, to push medicine to new heights, and to courageously advocate for patients and their communities, among other ideals.
In attendance were Richard A. Friedman and James S. Tisch, Co-Chairmen of the Mount Sinai Health System Boards of Trustees. “The Trustees care deeply about you, our students,” said Mr. Friedman in welcoming remarks. “We want you to be able to learn without the anxiety of graduating with a financial burden that might severely limit your ability to pursue your dreams. So, earlier this year, the Boards of Trustees approved the Enhanced Scholarship Initiative that enables students with demonstrated need to graduate with no more than $75,000 of debt. This is a gift from the Trustees who have funded the Initiative.”
Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System, spoke eloquently of gifts of a different sort. “It is important that you be thankful for all the gifts that are associated with becoming a physician and scientist,” he told the students. “It will enrich your personal life, enhance your professional sense of purpose, and most importantly, improve the lives of patients who place their trust in you.”
Among the gifts, he said, are the gifts of family, of gratitude, of giving and showing compassion to patients, of solving life’s greatest challenges, and of demonstrating strength, courage, and resilience while under duress. “Perhaps your ultimate gift,” he concluded, “is the chance to dream big.”
Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, took the opportunity to urge the future physicians to uphold and advance the values that have defined Mount Sinai since its earliest days—values, he said, that are now being threatened.
“The federal government has released a rule that could deny permanent resident status to some immigrants if they accept government assistance, including Medicaid, food stamps, or housing assistance, all of which we know impacts a person’s health and well-being,” he began. “In accepting federal government assistance, these individuals and families risk being labeled as a ‘public charge,’ and under this rule, it would jeopardize their ability to remain in the United States.” As a result, Dr. Davis continued, immigrant and low-income families served by Mount Sinai are choosing to forgo health care to avoid possible deportation.
“How does that affect you, future physicians and researchers? This is what I want you to commit to when you leave this room: We must defend our ability to be health care providers for all. By accepting your white coat today, you are pledging to uphold our values and to fulfill Mount Sinai’s vision.”
Zara Cooper, MD, MSc, FACS, MSSM ’00, Kessler Director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, gave a heartfelt keynote speech, which each year is dedicated to the late Hans Popper, MD, PhD, a world-renowned physician and academic leader who was President and Dean Emeritus of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
“It’s hard to describe the gratification of saving a patient’s life, helping bring a new life into the world, making a patient’s life longer or more enjoyable, or easing their transition to death,” she told the medical students. “You will do each of these things before you leave here. You will witness extraordinary things. You will experience the greatest joy and satisfaction that life can offer, and the deepest regret, shame, sadness, and self-doubt. But through it all, what will keep you centered, what will help you maintain your ethical compass, avoid burnout, maintain hope and optimism and joy in this work, is that you must always do what is best for the patient—always, always, always.”