Bowling, barbecue, and social media posts are not what most people associate with the start of medical school. But for the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) at the University of Pennsylvania’s incoming class, last week’s orientation activities are just a taste of the unique and diverse experiences they will have during their time at Penn. We followed students from their first day of orientation on Monday, Aug. 8 all the way until Friday’s White Coat Ceremony, an annual rite of passage that marks the beginning of a career in medicine. Check out the slideshow below and read on to learn more about the first week of medical school at PSOM. You can also search #PSOMWhiteCoat on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for even more photos from last week’s events!
Orientation at PSOM isn’t just about getting student IDs and learning your way around campus. Instead, this first week of medical school gives students the opportunity to get to know each other and see all that Penn has to offer. Students kicked off the week with a presentation from Oana Tomescu, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Clinical Medicine and Pediatrics and associate program director of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency, on the importance of wellness, mindfulness, and other techniques to manage stress during medical school. As part of our efforts to ensure students are able to strike a balance between school and their personal lives, first and second year students have three afternoons open each week, allowing them the freedom to pursue other interests, whether they are taking additional classes as part of a joint degree program, playing a sport, or even just relaxing. All lectures are also recorded, giving the students the option to attend in person or watch online. This flexibility is key to reducing stress and ensuring students are able to get the most of their time here at Penn.
PSOM students also have access to the latest technology to enhance their learning experience. From state-of-the-art classrooms in the new Jordan Medical Education Center to iPads, students can now take their resources and assignments with them everywhere they go. This is a stark contrast to just a few years ago when students were receiving as much as 3.3 MILLION sheets of paper during their time at Penn!
Another big part of getting the most out of med school is bonding with your fellow classmates. In addition a fun night of bowling, there were barbecues, pizza parties, and even friendly competitions throughout the week. Students spent two days at a retreat that included team building activities such as a contest to see which team could build the tallest and most sturdy tower out of spaghetti noodles. The idea is that students learn to work together and trust each other so that down the road they can provide the best care possible to their patients.
Because medical school can often be just as hard on partners and family members as it can be on the students themselves, each year PSOM offers family members a small glimpse into the life of a med student during orientation. As part of Friday’s activities, Gail Morrison, MD, senior vice dean of Education at PSOM, explained how students will transform during their time as Penn, developing from caterpillars learning their way in the world into butterflies, ready to take flight into a future in medicine. Parents and partners even got some first-hand experience with the Sim Man mannequin, where they had the opportunity to practice resuscitation and other techniques. Elsewhere, students also jumped into the patient-care experience, learning about the value of patient communication and even hearing from patients during a panel discussion.
PSOM’s orientation week might not be what most students expect coming into medical school, but what really makes the program unique is the students themselves. Penn has a long tradition of accepting students from diverse backgrounds and experiences – and the 146 members of this year’s class are no exception. Students this year include a Purple Heart U.S. Military Veteran, musicians, and artists, along with some students from more traditional educational backgrounds such as biology and chemistry. More than one-fourth of this year’s class represents students who are the first members of their family to graduate college and 26 percent of the class is comprised of underrepresented minorities in the field of medicine, including Mexican American, American Indian, and African American students.
And with Friday’s White Coat Ceremony, an annual rite of passage in which incoming medical students are individually garbed in short white clinicians’ coats and recite the Hippocratic Oath, PSOM’s newest students have now officially embarked on their own unique and exciting paths to medicine.