Mexico Medical Student |

We had our white coat ceremony today. It was really nice. They had us go up in groups of 7 or so to one of several profs/VIPs and they coated us facing the audience. Claudia got to go with me and take pictures, which was nice (to be posted soon).

I don’t know if this is done in US schools, but they had us recite the Hippocratic oath. Obviously, it’s a symbolic point at this stage anyway, but this was not your Apollo-loving “Do no harm” text of 2500 years ago (or whenever). No, this one had lines about “respecting human life in all stages and will not offer treatment [which goes against this]” (need I remind you we are in Mexico where 90+% of the population is Catholic? So am I, but that’s not the point…) What kind of politicizing bullshit is that? Needless to say, I stayed quiet. I have no intention of spending more than 1 day of the required OB/GYN rotation when the time comes much less actually become an “abortion doctor,” but to swear an oath…that’s crazy.

Anyway, it was a nice time regardless, even if a little stilted, because shortly afterwards we were shuffled to more lectures and presentations about orientation-related things. They gave us a nice lunch the first day we were here. It would have been nice to at least have had a mixer with a few finger snacks, drinks and a welcoming conversational atmosphere rather than a mere line item on the agenda. Ah well, I got it and it was very nice overall.