The School of Medical Sciences (SMS) has inducted 111 medical students into the clinical phase of their training at the 11th White Coat Ceremony.
Out of the total number of medical students inducted at the ceremony, there were 70 regular and 41 Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) students.
The ceremony is held for level 300 medical students who had completed their pre-clinical training and had satisfied all academic requirements to begin the clinical stage of their medical training.
Humility and Dignity
In his address, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, whose speech was read by the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dora F. Edu-Buandoh, urged the students not only to wear the white coat with pride but with humility and dignity. He reminded them that the white coat should instill confidence, and trust in their patient. “Let it also be a reminder to you to embrace opportunities to learn so that both you and the patients can benefit from your clinical rotation,” he advised.
Prof. Boampong pointed out that the UCC School of Medical Sciences (UCCSMS) was unique stressing that “We train our students to be highly professional”. He indicated that although the School strived to provide the best of environments for their training, there were still challenges with infrastructural development. “We, therefore, invite stakeholders, government agencies, corporate institutions, and individual benefactors to partner with us to continue to train the best doctors for healthcare provision in the country. The School had set up an Endowment Fund and we are ready to receive donations and commitments from all in support of our activities,” he appealed.
On the significance of the ceremony, Prof. Boampong said the white coat symbolically reminded physicians of their professional duty to practice medicine with integrity and honour as described by Hippocrates. “As medical students, ready to attend to patients, you too are bound by the same professional commitments that bind all physicians,” he charged them.
The Vice-Chancellor described the ceremony as an iconic ritual that had become a symbolic hallmark of healthcare training institutions around the world. “It is meant to inspire the zeal in students about to begin their careers in the field of medicine, but more importantly to remind them of their responsibility to care for humanity” he explained.
Confidentiality
In his address, the Acting Registrar of the Ghana Medical and Dental Council (GMDC), Dr. Divine Banyubala, charged the medical students not to practice their vocation on social media. He stated that confidentiality must be their prime concern as they enter into the critical stage of their medical training.
“Disclosing patients’ information within any public space breaches the fundamental principles of the medical profession,” he warned. He further indicated that the MDC was concerned about disclosing medical privacy and confidentiality through any technological medium, especially social media. Therefore, he advised the medical students to desist from engaging in such acts. “Never discuss patient confidential information either in the public or on social media,” he cautioned.
Aspiration
The Provost of the College of Health and Allied Sciences, Prof. Martins Ekor, noted that UCCSMS right from its inception aspired to be the best in the sub-region and eventually to rub shoulders with the best in the world. He said the School since its humble beginnings had maintained an academic and clinical environment where all staff and students work together to provide the highest level of training and patient care. “The medical professionals have to be people-centered, community-oriented and research-conscious”
Prof. Ekor indicated that the School recently graduated its eighth batch of medical doctors. He said through the White Coat Ceremony, the students were being reminded they had the requisite training to meet patients and put their acquired knowledge into practice. “Instead of mannequins, we are now trusting them with patients and, therefore, as faculty put the white coats on them, and as they take the oath today, it is my hope that the words will not just come out of their mouths, but they will practice them as they are embarking on a journey that requires integrity, compassion, and above all sacrifice to society”.
In his remarks, the Dean of the School of Medical Sciences, Prof. Sebastian Eliason, noted that the white coat was historic because two tracks of cycle one students were being initiated into cycle two which was the clinical component of their training. Prof. Eliason paid glowing tribute to the founding Dean of the School, Prof. Harold S. Amonoo-Kuofi for instituting the White Coat Ceremony.
Present at the function were the Omanhen of Omanhen of the Owirenkyi Traditional Area, Nana Prah Agyensaim VI; Chief Executive Officer of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Dr. Eric Kofi Ngyedu, Founding Dean, SMS, Prof. Harold H.S. Amonoo-Kuofi. Also present were former Deans and lecturers of SMS.