what are you not looking forward to as a physician?
What My White Coat Means to Me
A doc's white glaze is more than than a uniform. It's a deep tradition, a symbol of the profession that dates back more than a century, originating in scientific laboratories every bit physicians became identified with their background in science also as medicine.
In dr. James Feinstein's volume Brusk White Coat, he explains why a medical student'due south white coat is shorter than the total-length coat about doctors article of clothing: "The coat is barely long and functional plenty to carry all the educational books and tools of a medical educatee, but enough curt and awkward enough to remind any onlooker of the partially hatched novice contained within."
On August ii, the 160 students comprising the BU School of Medicine Form of 2023 participated in the annual symbolic ceremony of being cloaked in a white coat and reciting the Hippocratic Oath to marker the outset of their medical career. This yr's class hails from 28 states and nineteen countries. The entering students speak 25 languages and fourteen percent of them are from groups underrepresented in medicine.
We asked six of these first-year students to share with us their journeying to medical school, the challenges they overcame, and the people who inspired them.
Danielle Lafond (MED'23)
Why I want to be a medico
I think that people who discover they may be capable of doing difficult, of import things should endeavour to do them. I didn't grow upwardly believing that I was that kind of person. But afterwards building a career off of nothing merely my lived experiences and going back to schoolhouse in my tardily 20s, I looked back at a long road of choosing challenging experiences over easier ones and coming out amend on the other side, and saw that I was capable. When I chose to pursue medical school, it wasn't because I wanted the coat or wanted to cut people open. Being a doc wasn't part of my identity yet. But I knew that I had a compulsion to assist, a philosophy of doing my best to not make the earth worse, a honey of digging into scientific problems and figuring things out, and a belief that everyone could exercise with a trivial aid and understanding. I would have taken these things with me wherever I ended up. Just medicine is the all-time fit and the most compelling and useful work I can do. Medicine is science in the context of humanity—the kind of work that requires, always, the highest application of knowledge besides equally compassion and respect for people who need to be helped or heard or healed, or all three, no affair where they come from. It will be difficult, but it is of import and necessary. I tin can't call up of annihilation more fulfilling than that.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Danielle-Lafond-1.jpg)
The person(s) who inspired me to go to medical school
Nobody in my family is a md. I didn't even come across a doctor who wasn't my doctor until my late 20s. I spent a lot of time around patients, though, because everyone is a patient. The showtime person who inspired me to remember about becoming a doctor was my grandmother, Joyce, who suffered from a disease that at one signal resulted in the loss of ability to walk. She was always curious about her condition and passed that curiosity on to me. My sis, who has a rare autoimmune disorder, is some other inspiration. Watching her struggle to obtain a definitive diagnosis while beingness ravaged by strange and varied symptoms was heart-opening. It inspired me to think about the interconnectivity of trunk systems and the power of advocating for oneself. I need to mention Dr. Jessica Inwood, the showtime Doctor I worked with as a medical scribe. She appreciated my professional person power as well as my artlessness and sense of humour. When she told me these traits would make me a meliorate doc, non hinder my ability to become ane, I trusted her. It was inspiring to have such a phenomenal doctor see this every bit a good fit for me.
My journey to medical school
I'm a nontraditional pupil, which in my case means I'm 34 and just starting medical school. In middle school I was told I was gifted and put into the gifted programs, and the piece of work came hands. I learned that that'southward what success felt like—getting As without fifty-fifty trying. Being smart meant innate talent. In high schoolhouse, when the work got harder and my grades started slipping, I was convinced information technology was because I just wasn't smart plenty for sure subjects. This was compounded by messages from others that agreed with this assessment. I heard things like, "You lot should just stick to writing, you're non really good at math," and "Of course you're declining chemistry—that kind of thing has always been hard for you lot." I took these as fixed aspects of my intellectual ability, like genetic traits.
On my first college endeavor in 2003, I stuck to what I was proficient at and declared a communications major with a journalism concentration. However, after a semester it became credible that it wasn't financially feasible for me to stay at that school, and I moved dorsum to my home land of Rhode Island without a programme. I enrolled at Rhode Island Higher, but was unable to support myself while attending school and decided to enter the workforce. I worked at a variety of temp jobs until I landed a position at a fair merchandise java, chocolate, and tea importer. I became a quality control technician (industry-speak for coffee, chocolate, and tea taster) and a trusted member of the team. Over seven years at that place, I developed a real and powerful confidence in my power to succeed when challenged by piece of work I had never done earlier. My time at Equal Exchange convinced me I could succeed in school if I went back. When I returned to college in 2012, I deliberately chose classes I'd always believed were above my ability, including science classes. In my commencement chemical science grade, my professor said something that nobody had ever told me before: difficult work beats talent every time. It was a lesson I had learned myself over the last nine years, and someone was finally saying that it was OK that I wasn't immediately good at something. I declared biological science every bit my major, worked hard, got As, graduated cum laude, and nonetheless had no idea that I was going to be a doctor. I didn't experience like my premed friends felt—like you could just choose to be a physician and then go do it. So I started how I always had: I got a job. I became a medical scribe and worked in multiple specialties with many physicians. I found that I felt comfortable, excited, and eager to help while in the clinics. The physicians I worked with encouraged me to utilize to medical school based on what they saw in my piece of work and personality. After a twelvemonth in that position, I became a inquiry assistant in a lab at Chocolate-brown University and applied to medical school while conducting research on ALS via a fruit fly model system.
What the white coat means to me
While applying to medical schools, I spent much of my fourth dimension thinking and talking nearly identity. So much of the struggle I had with deciding to pursue this path came downward to problems surrounding identity: who was I allowed to be? Who was I capable of being? Did I think of myself as a doc? I have been conscientious not to shoulder the responsibleness of an identity I wasn't sure I'd exist able to accomplish. Some people drive themselves to accomplish by looking at the end goal. But the goal is only one consequence, and we can't hang our whole identity on whether or not we get that I Thing. It'south much more than important to make sure you're going nigh things in a way that is true to you lot. That's what I did to go here, and I think the messy story is as of import every bit the story of never deviating from a traditional path. The White Coat Anniversary represents a safety moment to shift my thinking—it feels similar the moment that I tin can commit fully to taking on a new identity. Nosotros become from here to doctor. There are no more off-ramps. I don't know who Dr. Lafond is, but information technology's time to beginning finding out.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Danielle-Lafond-2.jpg)
What I hope to accomplish as a md
I have e'er been interested in elderliness, specifically in innovative ways to combine populations of older people with younger people in shared living situations to improve quality of life and health outcomes for all. I'm also interested in neurology, as I've done a off-white amount of research work apropos neurodegenerative illness. Notwithstanding, I'm open up to the idea that I may be surprised by my clinical experiences, and may be most drawn to something I would never take idea from this side of the white glaze.
Dominic Tran (MED'23)
Why I want to be a doctor
My family inspired me to go into medicine. Growing up in an immigrant family unit of vii, I knew that doctor visits meant financial hardship and language barriers that prevented united states from receiving adequate healthcare. My female parent, with merely a 10th grade education, struggled to communicate with physicians because of her limited English. Despite me translating for her and getting appropriate medications, it was frustrating how I would get sick again a few months later because we didn't understand that my frequent nutrition of fast food exacerbated my asthma. Although doctors treated my symptoms, they were unable to address our family'southward express knowledge of basic nutrition or our disability to afford healthier food options. Seeing my parents struggle was especially disheartening to me because I was besides young to financially support our family. My family unit's struggles motivated me to pursue a career in medicine so that I could amend address inequities that preclude other struggling immigrant families from receiving quality healthcare.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Dominic-Tran-1.jpg)
The person(s) who inspired me to go to medical school
During my second year of college at UCLA, I was role of a streetside clinic that provided healthcare and social resource to homeless people in Los Angeles. Information technology was a great experience, because I learned then much nearly the homeless population and the types of social support available to them. However, what really stood out to me was how the doctors and medical students treated their patients. Many individuals who visited the clinic had negative experiences in healthcare, and often did not trust their care providers. Even so, by listening to their stories and referring them to auxiliary programs, the clinic'southward providers not only got patients to seek treatment, merely likewise earned their trust. It was humbling; by treating them equally more than just patients, we learned so much nearly their living situations and time to come goals. Equally a physician, I desire to apply the same concept of patient-centered care then that I can exist a true abet for my patients, particularly when they are going through difficult times.
My journeying to medical school
During the Vietnam War, my parents came to the United States as refugees and slowly rebuilt the lives they had before they left their home country. My female parent struggled to heighten five children while my begetter worked to make ends meet. I remember constantly moving from place to place, often in cramped i-bedroom apartments for months at a time as my father searched for piece of work. Whenever I felt a sense of home, it was e'er accompanied by the dreaded words, "It'due south time to move." As hard as information technology was to see my parents struggle to provide for the states, they taught me a valuable lesson: obstacles are merely motivation for me to try harder to accomplish my goals.
Equally a kid, school was specially difficult since my parents were unable to aid me with my schoolwork. Because English was not my kickoff linguistic communication and there were no other Vietnamese families in my community (El Dorado and Wichita, Kans., and later Southern California), I struggled to communicate with my teachers. Regardless, I learned English chop-chop because my female parent relied on me to be her translator. Although I couldn't back up our family unit financially, I wanted to help my parents in whatever capacity I could. As I grew older, with both my parents constantly working, I often watched over my four siblings and helped them with schoolwork while preparing meals. On top of my responsibilities at home, I also fabricated my teaching a priority and eventually graduated from UCLA with honors. As I reflect on the hardships I had to overcome, I realize they prepared me to become a compassionate physician for the underserved, and I promise to utilize the skills I have gained as a caregiver, educator, and abet in my journey to medicine.
What the white coat means to me
To me, putting on the white coat is a step closer to helping the communities I take worked with. While attending UCLA, I helped various marginalized groups obtain resources that alleviated inequalities involving healthcare access and educational needs. From working with communities such as educationally disadvantaged students, Southeast Asians, and homeless individuals, I understood how important it is to recognize that different communities have unlike health needs and social care. Receiving my white glaze reaffirms my commitment to helping these communities and motivates me to effectively treat individuals from a social, cultural, and customs context of healthcare.
More than personally, the white coat is too my style of carrying to my four siblings that they can accomplish their dreams despite coming from adversity. Every bit the oldest child, it'southward function of my responsibility to make sure my siblings are taken care of and doing well. E'er since I decided that I wanted to become a doctor, they watched the sacrifices I made and the hard work it took to become to where I am now. I experience that it'southward important for me to prove them that regardless of how difficult life can be, there's a sense of satisfaction when you overcome your challenges and reach your goals.
What I hope to accomplish equally a physician
I ultimately see myself practicing in a primarily underserved urban environment with a diverse patient population. I want to learn more almost customs health dynamics so that I tin do more for my hereafter patients who lack access to healthcare, while also addressing their wellness disparities.
After conducting behavioral neuroscience research with pediatric populations and teaching neuroscience topics to K-12 students, I am strongly interested in the fields of pediatrics and neurology. Pediatrics volition allow me to explore the intricacies of development while also providing long-term wellness interventions that will profoundly improve my patients' quality of life.
Additionally, with the complexities of the brain and its ability to impact basic functions such as movement and breathing, the field of neurology is very exciting. Despite my interest in these two fields, I am very open to learning more about other medical specialties as I progress through my medical didactics.
Rachel Ingraham (MED'23)
Why I want to be a medico
I've wanted to be a medico since I was a kid. When I was four, I was very sick and hospitalized for a brief fourth dimension. Although the feel was difficult on my family, I call up information technology fondly; I felt extremely safety with the doctors and trusted that they would help me get better. This experience amidst other positive interactions with pediatricians heavily influenced my conclusion to get a doctor. But equally I got older, I became less comfortable with the idea of my 4-year-quondam self dictating my career trajectory. So I spent the winding years of my premed journeying exploring medicine from many angles, including biomedical research, healthcare administration, and patient advocacy. These experiences taught me many lessons and ultimately reaffirmed that my childhood dream was truly correct for me.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Rachel-Ingraham-1.jpg)
The person(s) who inspired me to go to medical schoolhouse
Although I've wanted to be a doctor most of my life, I didn't feel inspired to apply to medical school until I started working at Boston Medical Center. As a patient advocate, I saw the challenging lives our patients face every twenty-four hours. My chore was to bring resolution when things went amiss, and I was privy to what some call the underbelly of medicine. This unique responsibility allowed me to work with people during their darkest moments—when they were most lonely, grieving, or felt voiceless. These encounters were across humbling and showed me the vast definition of what it means to be human.
I was also privileged to witness the heroic efforts of care providers throughout the institution. No affair the telescopic or field, the clinicians at BMC embody a relentless commitment to their patients. They catch people and communities when they've fallen and provide the structure and resources people need in order to regain and maintain control of their lives.
My acute awareness of human vulnerability and systemic shortcomings paired with the unwavering compassion of BMC providers brought clarity to my calling and ultimately propelled me to apply to medical school.
My journey to medical schoolhouse
As an African American adult female from a lower-middle-class family, I've faced a blend of obstacles due to my identity. Although painful, overcoming such adversity has been a major part of my journey to medicine.
The most prominent obstacle was cocky-incertitude perpetuated past internalized racism. At historic period 5, a classmate told me I "can't do annihilation, because black girls are stupid!" Although the exchange only lasted 25 seconds, for 25 years I fought to prove that he wasn't correct. Merely in the deepest parts of myself I worried that it was true, that my skin defined what I had to offer, not my resilience, intelligence, or compassion. Because of this, my path to become a doctor has carried a duality. On one hand, it's been a journey to proceeds an understanding of what it is I take declared I volition do. On the other hand, information technology has been about proving to myself that I have what it takes to succeed at what I intend to practise.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Rachel-Ingraham-2.jpg)
These feelings of doubt were lightened when I met physicians who looked like me. They modeled my wildest aspirations and showed me what I could become if I persisted.
It was likewise paramount to environs myself with encouraging people who saw my capacity to achieve. Among this group of positive influences was my family. They've been a huge source of strength, particularly my female parent, who's been my greatest abet and part model for perseverance in the face of adversity.
One of my proudest moments was calling my family after I was accepted to the BU School of Medicine. We shared tears and an inexplicable amount of joy. Afterward all these years of harboring doubt, it was an overwhelming and beautiful feeling to realize that I had actually accomplished my dream.
What the white glaze means to me
For me, the white coat symbolizes the countless hours of try, challenges overcome, and lessons learned along the fashion. It's a reflection of the many people, mentors, friends, and loved ones that take been a office of my journey. On the other hand, the white coat symbolizes my arrival to the profession of medicine, the next phase of my life, and the journey to come. Most importantly, it represents another step towards taking care of people and positively impacting their health and lives for the better.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Rachel-Ingraham-3.jpg)
Last year I watched the BU Class of 2022 White Coat Ceremony from outside the tent. As I observed the proud students and families, I told myself that I would march in amongst the new matriculants next year, that I would sit inside the tent, be donned with a white coat, and speak the Hippocratic Oath. I knew the odds were astronomically tough, but because of my dear of this Medical Campus, I told myself that this is where I wanted and needed to be. I'thou honestly still in shock and information technology feels surreal that my dream and vision really came truthful. I tin can't brainstorm to limited how much I am looking frontwards to this day and how tremendously privileged and honored I feel to be a function of BU School of Medicine Class of 2023.
Christopher Choi (MED'19,'23)
Why I desire to be a dr.
My desire to go a physician grew slowly over the course of several years, but information technology was the culmination of two primary factors. My initial interest stemmed from my ain health issues, sparking a desire to learn more about the human torso. Much later, I grew fascinated with effecting change on a greater macro-level afterwards experiences focused on the administrative side of healthcare. I saw the potential to work towards progress every bit a physician, not just in the clinic, but in our nation'southward health system as a whole, to amend our power to effectively and efficiently provide quality care. I want to utilize the platform as a frontline provider to inspire modify on both a personal, individual level and a greater, systemic level.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Chistopher-Choi-1.jpg)
The person(due south) who inspired me to go to medical school
I was encouraged past a professor of mine, the late Dr. Robin Smith, to explore medical school during my public health studies. Spending time with Dr. Janie Yoo, an opthalmologist I shadowed after college, served as a tipping point in solidifying these aspirations. Final, my father's career in medicine gave me a personal glimpse into the everyday life of a physician, both the highs and lows, giving me the confidence to pursue this decision wholeheartedly.
My journeying to medical schoolhouse
I began suffering from debilitating migraine attacks at 16. My first incident forced me off-stage in the middle of a performance, and countless others left me bedridden for days. Thank you to lifestyle changes and a medication regimen, I manage and cope with them improve today than I had initially. My ain struggle for better health has played a pregnant role in why I want to follow this path.
Additionally, from an academic standpoint, the other obstacle I faced was more than pragmatic: I performed poorly during my undergraduate studies. I remember meeting with an undergraduate advisor about future plans and being told non to e'er bother applying to medical schools. However, I was fortunate to discover an amazing opportunity with the BU Master of Science in Medical Sciences Programme, which gave me another chance to succeed, eventually leading me to the BU School of Medicine.
What the white glaze means to me
Putting on a white coat ways donning the total responsibility of a physician to put patients first. It means abiding by the doc'south oath to "do no harm," while standing to strive for the meliorate health of both our people and our communities. It represents a duty to advocate for healthy behaviors and positively influence the concrete, mental, and emotional well-being of all patients.
What I hope to reach as a physician
I hope to continually challenge myself and my colleagues to wait beyond traditional methods in advancing modern health intendance. The complexities of current bug and challenges in medicine necessitate innovative solutions, and much can exist learned and applied from fields such as technology, business concern, and public wellness. While we will go along to advance the boundaries of our scientific knowledge and improve medical technologies, I believe those advances but contain one one-half of the solution. The other half involves making those aforementioned health treatments and innovations more accessible to the patients who need them.
Bruna Pino (MED'23)
Why I want to be a md
I was born in Bolivia, raised in Kingdom of spain, and grew up in the United States. Considering I traveled so much growing upwards, I never quite felt function of a community—that is, one exterior of my nuclear family unit. Over the years living in the U.s., I noticed that what my peers considered their community went across just their family. They were volunteering and they were getting involved, which created a desire inside me for man connexion, and I became very keen to serve people. In high school, I delved into my passion for sciences and after on, I connected with the side of medicine that is belittling and mentally stimulating. My upbringing also allowed me to get to know different countries and cultures. Medicine is so global that information technology enables me to interact with patients from all walks of life. Its universality also allows me to practise anywhere in the world, which is very exciting.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Bruna-Pino-1.jpg)
The person(south) who inspired me to go to medical schoolhouse
My grandfather worked as a truck driver in Bolivia and when my father was of historic period, he offered to pass the business organization to him. Knowing he wanted to go a doctor, my father decided to pave his own path, fifty-fifty though that meant leaving the family business behind. He worked belatedly nights as a taxi driver while in schoolhouse to provide for my brother and mother and through his ain determination, exceeded other people's expectations and somewhen became a cardiothoracic surgeon. It was not an easy job, but he was always passionate about what he did. He would come up home during lunchtime and share with usa the things he did and what he saw, and it all became very interesting to me. It sparked my curiosity. Years after, whenever I had doubts about medicine or whenever the thought of getting into medical school seemed similar an impossible job, I thought well-nigh him. He had it more difficult than I ever did, and he went into one of the hardest specialties there is. If he could do it, I could too.
My journeying to medical schoolhouse
I moved to the United States just a few weeks earlier my freshman year of loftier school. With a few words of English language under my chugalug—learned through marathons of subtitled American movies—I made information technology through my first solar day. Any discipline that did not require much English, like fine art, sports, and math, I did well at. I remember i time I was in my geometry class and the instructor asked the class a question. Previous to this, I had spent many classes preoccupied almost speaking up, feeling uncomfortable about my language level, and feeling too scared to participate. And so, as I saturday there waiting for others to respond, I realized that I knew the correct answer. I felt a sudden burst of confidence, and I raised my hand. What I failed to foresee at the moment my teacher called on me was my lack of basic mathematical colloquial. I did not know how to say "minus" or "plus" just withal. Only through hand signals, my teacher taught me the words and I never forgot them.
I grew up in a home where Castilian was the main language, and I had to adjust to the American civilisation and catch upwards to my peers who had been speaking fluent English language their entire lives. Picking up the language had its memorable moments, such as when I learned the word "mild" a petty too late at an Indian eating house or when I embarrassingly mispronounced the word "beach" during a schoolhouse presentation. However, information technology was these short bursts of bravery and mispronunciations that helped me eventually overcome the language bulwark, reach a deeper level of understanding, and experience at home.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Pino-2.jpg)
What the white glaze ways to me
I have lived in Boston for over 12 years now and during this time experienced some terrible, freezing cold winters, just I imagine this volition experience like the heaviest glaze to clothing. When I picture myself receiving my white coat, I am reminded of the many years of constant dedication, hard piece of work, and perseverance it took to get to where I am today. My immigration journey, the gap years in between loftier school and college, the iv years as an undergraduate student figuring out who I was and what made me me, all leading to this moment. The white coat represents my parents: the lessons my female parent taught me of force and patience and the lessons my father taught me of creativity and curiosity. It symbolizes my family's journey and carries our story. It stands for my culture and what any of us can attain. The fresh await of the new white fabric constitutes the outset of something and what there is to look forward to: the sense of belonging to a community of diverse and remarkably inspiring people, the things I will get to learn inside and outside of class, the conversations with future patients, etc. I am empowered past the life I am starting and I am excited for what is to come.
What I promise to accomplish as a doctor
When medicine started to involvement me, I sought communication from my father, who had worked in several hospitals in Bolivia. When I shadowed doctors at that place decades afterwards, our experiences were parallel, in that many things had non changed after all these years. My fourth dimension in Bolivia made me question the extent to which intergenerational social and cultural factors touch a person'due south health and instilled in me a desire to be involved in international healthcare. Following the footsteps of Partners In Health cofounder Dr. Paul Farmer, who in his late 20s and while in medical school had started pioneering global health initiatives, I too aspire to develop projects globally that address these social determinants of health.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Pino-3.jpg)
As a doctor, I hope to create a nonprofit healthcare organization in Bolivia that focuses directly on improving the quality of care and promoting health equity in urban cities similar my hometown, also every bit rural towns that are traditionally underserved. I hope over time it tackles other social justice bug, including women and youth empowerment, likewise as access to sexual and reproductive wellness education.
In the United States, I hope to serve refugee and immigrant communities and learn more than nigh how unlike ethnicities and populations view medicine. Then my decisions of care on the national and global level will exist more inclusive and multidimensional. My hope is to accept fabricated a difference advocating for the lives of all my patients no thing their background and to use my own experiences of immigrating and adapting to a new civilisation to serve as a cultural liaison for them.
As a professional, I have a vocalisation and a platform to create change. And as a female, first-generation Hispanic immigrant going into the medical field, I will work to promote diversity in STEM fields through mentorship opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities.
Tyler Schaeffer (MED'23)
Why I desire to be a md
I had no distinct light-bulb moment on my journey to medical school. Becoming a md was in the back of my mind even before loftier school, but I had a wide variety of other academic interests along the way. Ultimately, after postbaccalaureate education, several jobs, and simply watching physicians work, I felt the vocational steadiness I needed to commit to medicine. The blend of scientific rigor and man connectedness required to office well equally a doc drew me in.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Tyler-Schaeffer.jpg)
The person(s) who inspired me to go to medical school
I accept had a long-continuing desire to work on improving the quality of homo life, and I worked with a number of unlike professionals engaged in this challenge. As a therapeutic mentor at Brookline Community Mental Wellness Center, I worked on a squad with social workers and physicians and the physicians that I worked for—from orthopedic surgeons to psychiatrists—left the largest impression on me. I wanted to have their role on the squad, and I enjoyed imagining myself in their shoes.
Additionally, my female parent is a registered dietitian and is now pursuing a second master's caste, in social work. My begetter is an engineer and a pocket-sized business leader. I was fortunate to have a home that prized both analytical thought and edifice strong communities. My decision to get a medico is inspired by the values and priorities that my parents have passed on to me.
My journey to medical school
When I decided that I wanted to go to medical schoolhouse, well after graduating college, I needed to take prerequisite science courses. I spent 12 months completing all of the required laboratory classes and taking the MCAT. Compressing my studies into this time frame was one of my toughest career challenges. I came from a background in liberal arts and psychology, and I had never taken an undergrad level lab science class. Moreover, I never saw myself as a science and math person, and I had a narrow view of my academic strengths and weaknesses. I had to reinvent the way I thought.
Existence a nontraditional premed has its advantages, but changing careers comes with downsides. There is relatively inaccessible however important knowledge around the process of getting into medical schoolhouse that I had to grab upward on. I also had to allow go of the certainties of my original trajectory for something with a definite risk of full failure. Notwithstanding, this also gave me valuable space to ostend that medical school was the right choice for me.
Information technology has all paid off. I have learned a great deal nigh myself, and I am more energized at present than ever about entering medical school. Each challenge has been an opportunity to grow. I am excited to take these next steps.
What the white coat means to me
The white glaze is a symbol of the pivotal transition I am making as I pass over from premed to medical student. It is validation of the hard work of the past, while too being a reminder of the responsibilities that lie ahead. I know that accepting it in August provides a moment to reflect, but also signals the commencement of the humbling and serious piece of work of learning to become a md.
![](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/files/2019/08/COM-Tyler-2.jpg)
The support my loved ones contributed to my journey has been invaluable. Getting into medical school and everything that comes with it would have been incommunicable without the confidence of my parents, partner, friends, and family. While the White Glaze Ceremony orients me to the responsibility I accept toward patients, it is also a reminder of the efforts of and so many in my circle of support.
What I promise to accomplish as a physician
I hope to build a exercise that focuses on working with people to improve or restore functionality and then that they can live every bit they would similar. I besides desire to be observant in my work—hopefully producing some valuable scientific insight in order to improve care. There are many roads to this goal, and I do not know where I will cease up. I am looking frontward to exploring the opportunities that are ahead of me.
This is a BU Today story.
Source: https://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm/2019/08/27/what-my-white-coat-means-to-me/
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