The A.M. Dogliotti School of Medicine within the College of Health Sciences, University of Liberia (UL), has initiated 36 first-year medical students.
The White Coat ceremony for the first-year students with the class name โMedicas Manusโ (Healing Hands), was held Saturday, January 7, 2023, in the auditorium of the Medical School in Congo Town.
Families and friends of the initiated students, UL authorities, and officials in the medical field graced the ceremony.
Delivering the keynote address at the ceremony, the Chief Medical Officer of the John F. Kennedy Medical Center; Dr. Sia Watta Camanor, implored the students to serve more as they learn more, and they will earn more.
โ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ-๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ต๐บ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด,โ said Dr. Camanor.
She encouraged the initiated students to make their patients comfortable because they have many concerns, they are anxious, and they are looking for solutions.
โ๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง โฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ,โ she said.
The JFK Chief Medical Officer stated that medical practitioners are there to support patients and their families, especially when they sometimes have a difficult diagnosis.
โ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก, ๐๐ ๐ก๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ก. ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ ,โ said Dr. Camanor.
โHold their hand when they are going through pain; hold their hand when they are โฆ. to answer the call โฆ that we will all have to answer one day,โ
She noted that when the Master of the universe calls patients home and thereโs nothing more that can be done medically, you need to be able to hold their hands.
Mrs. Fatee Ziegler, Executive Assistant, College of Health Sciences, told the newly inducted class that itโs a privilege to be in Medical School now without paying any money.
She implored the class not to take the opportunity for granted, saying in other countries, medical students pay a lot of money for their education.
โ๐๐, ๐กโ๐๐ฆ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ , ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ฆ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐ฆ๐๐๐. ๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ฆ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐ฆ. ๐ท๐๐โ๐ก [๐๐ฃ๐๐] ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐,โ said Madam Ziegler.
She said itโs her wish that the 36 students will reach the senior class and will do the Oath and Honor.
Dr. Lawrence Sherman, Dean of A.M. Dogliotti School of Medicine, told the initiates that since they have decided to attend medical school, itโs their responsibility to leave from there as medical doctors.
โWe are here to encourage you, [and] give you all the support you need. Donโt let everything that has been said here [put fear] in you,โ he said.
Regardless of all the problems that the initiates may have outside, Dr. Sherman said their one task in this life now is to succeed as medical doctors.
The president of the Liberia Medical Students Association (LMSA), Madam Patricia Gray admonished the newly initiated students that with self-discipline, anything is possible.
She urged them to create innovative ways in their studies, and go beyond just reading their materials.
She also urged the students to be focused, read smartly, and know what they want to achieve at a time.
Student Gray thanked the Administration of the Medical School for the availability of a bus to commute students and instructors between Fendall and the Medical School for their clinical studies.
She however encouraged the Administration to give support for electricity to enable students to study and do their best.
On behalf of the initiated students, Mr. Benjamin Bedell, Jr., president of the Medicas Manus class, thanked the Administration and the instructors for preparing the class for its journey in the medical profession.
