Pitt’s School of Medicine combined white coat and pinning ceremonies for the first ‘COVID class’

For the first time, Pitt’s School of Medicine hosted a combined white coat and pinning ceremony.

The event for the Class of 2024 was like no other because this class matriculated like no other: virtually at the height of the pandemic in fall 2020.

Having missed the medical school rite of passage of an in-person white coat ceremony, the class — whose members are beginning to see patients in clinical rotations as third-year medical students and were set to mark the occasion with a traditional pinning ceremony this spring — requested a ceremonial reissuing of their white coats at the same time.

Nicolás M. Kass, president of the Class of 2024, remarked at the May 6 event on transitions and uncertainty, “since we are sitting at the intersection of the two.” 

Of course, the class is no stranger to doing things differently. Even before matriculating, med school faculty members challenged them to update the Hippocratic oath to acknowledge the structural racism plaguing America, the pandemic, and the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery earlier that summer. For their efforts to modernize what it means for physicians to pledge to “do no harm” in today’s world, the class garnered national media attention from CNN and NPR, even before starting classes.

At the white coat and pinning ceremony, Kass asked his peers to remember that although the consequences of mistakes or failure may no longer be directed solely at them once they start seeing patients, every single other doctor has been in their shoes. “Our class is just not so unique as to be unable to replicate what generations and generations have done. And I would argue that our class has a unique skillset based on all we’ve been through for the past two years,” he said.  

The ceremony also highlighted the importance of humanism in the medical profession. Jim Withers of Operation Safety Net delivered a keynote about offering street medicine to homeless populations.

“In seeking out the humanity of others, we often find our own,” he said.

The Sally Miller Award for the medically underserved was presented to Varun Mandi of the MD/PhD program for his work interviewing Black pregnant women in Pittsburgh about the health care disparities they face.

Alda Maria Gonzaga, associate dean for student affairs in the med school, offered parting words of wisdom: “Never forget your learning comes at the cost of someone else’s suffering. Comparison is the thief of joy. And imposter syndrome doesn’t make doctors; we make doctors. Pitt Med makes doctors. And we make excellent ones. We are proud of you.” 

— Micaela Corn