{"id":62260,"date":"2019-08-21T15:21:06","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T20:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=62260"},"modified":"2019-08-22T09:11:25","modified_gmt":"2019-08-22T14:11:25","slug":"the-white-coat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/the-white-coat\/","title":{"rendered":"The White Coat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Symbols.\u00a0 <\/span>The ancient world had symbols for fertility, wealth, birth and death.\u00a0 <\/span>Today\u2019s world is replete with them.\u00a0 <\/span>The blue-and-<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Doctor\u2019s coat and thermometer of Dr. Georg Renno (ca. 1940) Photo credit: Musealia\/Ic\u00edar Palacios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

white wheelchair occupied by a stick figure.\u00a0 <\/span>The red circle with a line imposed over a black lit cigarette.\u00a0 <\/span>The peace sign.\u00a0 <\/span>The list is endless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The power of symbols endures because symbols are creative, useful tools in generating awareness and building knowledge.\u00a0 <\/span>Interestingly, using a symbol does not bring about conditions.\u00a0 <\/span>Rather, the primary central reason for how a particular symbol is seen lies in its use over time.\u00a0 <\/span>Symbols give form to concepts and ideas, thereby defining a world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The white coat is an excellent example.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For over 100 years, the white coat has served as the physician\u2019s symbol.\u00a0 <\/span>A child\u2019s earliest memory of a doctor is the person in the white coat.\u00a0 <\/span>In fact, at almost all medical schools \u2013 97% to be specific \u2013 the first symbolic act is the \u201cWhite Coat Ceremony (WCC).\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>This rite of passage for medical students, which was created in 1993 by Dr. Arnold P. Gold at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, entails a \u201cceremonial cloaking\u201d as one embarks on a medical career.\u00a0 <\/span>It is combined with the recitation of the Hippocratic Oath.\u00a0 <\/span>Some health care training programs for Physician Assistants, Occupational Therapists and others conclude with the WCC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The WCC is a once-in-a-lifetime milestone.\u00a0 <\/span>Spouses, parents and others flock to watch their loved one\u2019s big moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How did the White Coat come into being? <\/span><\/p>\n

In the late 19<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century, physicians wore black because it connoted more somber attire.\u00a0 <\/span>Medical encounters then were rather solemn in nature as seeking medical advice was considered the last step in life.\u00a0 <\/span>With the advent of the new century, medicine began to shift from home remedies and more into the realm of bioscience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Further, the Flexner Report of 1910, which was published under the aegis of the Carnegie Foundation, called for restructuring medical education around laboratory science, in addition to other recommended changes.\u00a0 <\/span>Physicians \u2013 both full-fledged and those in training to-be-physicians \u2013 embraced the White Coat as a way to distinguish themselves from the quacks and snake oil healers who shunned evidenced-based medicine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the field of medicine evolved and changed in the 20<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century, the White Coat emerged as the symbol of medical authority and respect.\u00a0 <\/span>It is an uniform that elicits trust and respect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The closing years of the 20<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century witnessed some doctors choosing not to wear the White Coat after their professional training had concluded.\u00a0 <\/span>In particular, pediatricians and psychiatrists said many patients found it too intimidating and distancing from patients.\u00a0 <\/span>Others said that the coat, unless washed regularly, is a \u201chotbed\u201d of germs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s statistics show that 72% of hospital physicians and almost all medical students wear White Coats at least 75% of the time.\u00a0 <\/span>It sure is an easy way for people to determine that they are medical professionals.\u00a0 <\/span>In a study conducted by the University of Michigan, over one-third of the 4,062 patients who were polled said that the White Coat influenced their satisfaction with the care rendered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, and tragically, there are demented minds that have misused and abused this symbol of professionalism, caring and trust.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, my wife and I visited the Museum of the Jewish Heritage in New York\u2019s Battery Park City to tour exhibition \u201cAuschwitz.\u00a0 <\/span>Not Long Ago.\u00a0 <\/span>Not Far Away.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>This well done exhibit with 700 original objects and 400 photographs, including a cattle car that transported Jews and others to the Nazi death and concentration camps, is engaging, jarring, thought-provoking and gut-wrenching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a horrifying moment for me to come to a display case with a White Coat.\u00a0 <\/span>Yes, you read this correctly.\u00a0 <\/span>A White Coat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The person who wore the White Coat was Dr. Georg Renno.\u00a0 <\/span>Renno (forgive me but he does not deserve the title \u201cDoctor\u201d) was born in Strasbourg and studied medicine in Munich and Heidelberg.\u00a0 <\/span>He became an assistant doctor in the Leipzig-Dosen hospital under Hermann Paul Nitsche, a psychiatrist who subscribed to \u201cracial hygiene\u201d and was one of the Nazis\u2019 proponents of murdering patients deemed \u201cunfit\u201d or \u201cunhealthy.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Renno was deputy head of the Harthein killing center (he checked people shortly before they were murdered) and was responsible for the introduction of gas.\u00a0 <\/span>He also was in charge of Hartheim\u2019s children\u2019s ward and assured that all physically and mentally disabled children were murdered for the sake of racial hygiene.\u00a0 <\/span>After World War II, Renno worked for the pharmaceutical company Schering.\u00a0 <\/span>In the 1960s, he was tried for war crimes and was, unfortunately, not convicted.\u00a0 <\/span>In 1975, the trial against him was shelved because he was unable to stand trial.\u00a0 <\/span>Right up until his death in 1997, he proclaimed his innocence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The thought that Renno paraded around in a White Coat while plotting and planning the deaths of innocent people is too much to comprehend.\u00a0 <\/span>Renno and murderers and perpetrators of his ilk use a powerful symbol to deceive, to trick us into believing that that which they represent is actually present or real.\u00a0 <\/span>They trick us when we believe that whoever wears the symbol embodies that image because we believe that the symbol and the person are one and the same.\u00a0 <\/span>What a hoax.\u00a0 <\/span>What a perversion of the Hippocratic Oath.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The takeaway lesson from Renno\u2019s White Coat should be that whatever we take on in life should be with the highest level of integrity.\u00a0 <\/span>We don\u2019t always know the answers \u2013 and nor are we expected to.\u00a0 <\/span>The White Coat Ceremony with the recitation of the Hippocratic Oath is at the beginning<\/i> of one\u2019s medical education.\u00a0 <\/span>It is the goal of a long journey.\u00a0 <\/span>But having that goal is so important in all matters in life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As always, daven<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Symbols.\u00a0 The ancient world had symbols for fertility, wealth, birth and death.\u00a0 Today\u2019s world is replete with them.\u00a0 The blue-and- white wheelchair occupied by a stick figure.\u00a0 The red circle with a line imposed over a black lit cigarette.\u00a0 The peace sign.\u00a0 The list is endless.\u00a0 The power of symbols endures because symbols are creative,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133543,"featured_media":62265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nThe White Coat - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/the-white-coat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The White Coat - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Symbols.\u00a0 The ancient world had symbols for fertility, wealth, birth and death.\u00a0 Today\u2019s world is replete with them.\u00a0 The blue-and- white wheelchair occupied by a stick figure.\u00a0 The red circle with a line imposed over a black lit cigarette.\u00a0 The peace sign.\u00a0 The list is endless.\u00a0 The power of symbols endures because symbols are creative,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/the-white-coat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-21T20:21:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-22T14:11:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/whitecoataushwitz.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hylton I. 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