Yesterday was a day of many powerful emotions for me as I witnessed my son’s White Coat Ceremony for Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Listening to one of the many impactful speeches given by the Harvard faculty, I heard one particular Harvard physician and educator describe the white coat of a physician or dentist as a “symbol of hope” for those who entrust their lives to the individual wearing it. Watching my son receive and wear his white coat for the first time immediately transported me back twenty-nine years ago to when I first received mine.
In my almost three-decade-long career as a physician, I have bore witness to the healing power of the white coat. But not as you may think. The sacred bond between a physician and a patient provides a space in which vulnerability, pain, and fear can be overshadowed by love, compassion, and humility. This I have seen over and over. Ironically, however, when I reflect on how the white coat is a symbol of hope, I realize very clearly that hope is what patients nourish us with day in and day out. Patients are diverse channels of hope, and hope is what propels us onward in our mission to love, nourish, and transcend. To love our fellow man more unconditionally, to nourish the souls of those around us, and transcend hatred and the evils of this world so that the inherent respect for humanity can lead nations to peace.
Whenever I have had a patient pray over me, laugh with me, cry with me, teach me, or inspire me, they fill my heart with hope. I am a better physician, wife, mother, friend, and healer because of you. The Dean of the Medical Education at Harvard Medical School reminded us that medicine is constantly evolving and that one-half of what the students learn in medical school will be replaced throughout their careers as science continues to evolve and new discoveries will be made. But, to me, the one factor that will not change, the one thing that these students can confidently rely on to remain as true fifty years from now as it is today, is the treasury of hope that comes with the white coat.
To all my patients who continue to entrust me with the privilege and honor of being your physician, I humbly thank you for the treasure of you.
To your health,
Dr. Couri