2019 Annual White Coat CeremonyDate: 20th October 2019Organized by: JSU Int'l Medical Students Association (IMSA) and JSU Chinese Medical Students Association (CMSA)Venue: JTQ Buidling 110Participants: Over 300 Medical Freshmen

The 2019 Annual White Coat ceremony took place on 20th of October at JTQ 110. This year's ceremony was quite special because for the first time both the IMSA and CMSA came together to organize this wonderful event. The guests of honor included: Dean of OEC Prof. Jing Gao; Vice Dean of OEC Ms. Cai Zhaohui. Also, the representatives from the School of Medicine were Vice Dean Prof. Zhao Ming, Dr. Xu Xiao, Dr. Leng Jiaye, Dr. Zhang Shibing etc.

The event commenced with a wonderful speech from Prof. Jing Gao. She expressed her joy of witnessing the cooperation between Chinese and international medical students. She ended her speech by encouraging the new students to focus on their studies and dedicate more time to their books as it is the only way to smoothly sail through their years of studies. Before closing she highlighted an empowering slogan for the new partnership, "Dream to succeed, Together we can".

After words of encouragement from former IMSA President Dr. Vijay, the ceremony proceeded to the main event which involved the presentation of the white coats to the students by the esteemed guests. Lined up from left to right both the Chinese and international students received the coats from the guests as they took a bow of appreciation. The other students in the auditorium joined their classmates on stage as they put on their coats. The room came to life with white coats as we saw smiles and noises of excitement displaying the start of a new chapter for these new students. Still standing they were asked to raise a hand as they read the Hippocratic oath. The oath was read in both English and Chinese with Dr. Leng leading. The students promised to uphold their basic responsibility of caring for those in need without bias.

Senior medical student Hadi then informed them that new beginnings are always difficult but as time goes on they will come to realise how easy it becomes as long as they remain focused on the work to be done. He stated that; “You can never tell what is good if you don't know what is bad”. The floor was then vacated for the Presidents of both IMSA and CMSA. Namely Michael Afriye (IMSA) and Luo Han Qing (CMSA). They communicated to the students the upcoming events the two bodies plan on having together with the view of strengthening this new partnership.

Emphasising more on the message for the day, Prof. Zhao Ming, spoke of the importance and influence of medicine and encouraged the students to be ruthless in their search for knowledge and to make good use of the facilities available to them.

The Patron of IMSA Dr. Xu Xiao was called upon to give the closing remarks. She resonated once again the new slogan "Dream to succeed, Together we can" and then wished the students well in their journey.

Marking the start of their journey, the students could be seen running towards their friends for pictures in their new white coats as the event came to an end.

Writer: QwekuEditor: Pheona Photography: Grace格瑞斯 [AGphotography]