Close to 600 proud parents attended the White Coat Ceremony at the University Cultural Centre on 13 August, witnessing 300 medical freshmen from the Class of 2017 don their white coats. It was a solemn occasion and a moment of honour as the freshmen took the Medical Students’ Pledge in unison. Phase II and Phase IV medical students also came together to welcome the freshmen with dance and musical performances. In addition, messages of encouragement and blessings by family and friends of the freshmen were written on specially designed commemorative pillar wraps to mark the memorable occasion.
Gracing this year’s White Coat Ceremony was Dr Tan Lai Yong, from the Class of 1985. Dr Tan is recognised for his efforts all over Asia. He was featured on Channel NewsAsia’s “Asians of the Year” in 2009 and was recently conferred the SMA lectureship, an award for distinguished personnels who have made significant contributions to the medicine and the community. Dr Tan continues his active contribution to the Singaporean society by actively volunteering his services at local organisations such as HealthServe. Prior to returning to Singapore in 2010, he was at Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, where he established a barefoot doctors programme to give farmers basic medical training and cared for orphans, disabled children and leprosy affected.
The White Coat is recognised as a symbol of the medical profession, and the donning of the White Coat has been widely adopted as a rite of passage into medical schools all over the world. This traditional robing ceremony was brought into the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in 2008, and has since gained recognition from clinicians nationwide as the induction ceremony for freshmen.
