USA College of Medicine students take virtual Hippocratic Oath

John Marymont, M.D., vice president for medical affairs and dean of the USA College of Medicine, speaks to the class of 2020 via Zoom.

Fourth-year medical students at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine became the first class to take the Hippocratic Oath separated by the social distancing of COVID-19.

“The noble profession you’re entering, the weight that it carries and the respect and gratitude that society has for you is so evident in today’s reality,” said John Marymont, M.D., vice president for medical affairs and dean of the USA College of Medicine, speaking by Zoom video conferencing to the 66 graduates as they prepared to take the oath Friday. “You’re entering the workforce in a society faced with significant challenges due to a pandemic unprecedented in modern time.”

Andrew Bright, D.O., assistant professor of surgery, leads
the Hippocratic Oath for graduates who matched in the
U.S. military.

Marymont said that society is looking to physicians as leaders, healers and comforters, and for hope. “Embrace this challenge, and, as Nike says, ‘Just do it.’ Do it with compassion, dignity, honesty, respect and resilience,” he said.

Marymont led the graduates in the Hippocratic Oath, an oath of ethics named for the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates historically taken by physicians stating the obligations and proper conduct of those practicing medicine. Graduates who matched at U.S. military facilities also took the military oath led by Andrew Bright, D.O., assistant professor of surgery at the USA College of Medicine.

Typically, both oaths are taken during Honors Convocation, the ceremony when graduates are recognized for their academic achievements and are awarded doctoral hoods by individuals of their choosing. Social distancing requirements prompted by COVID-19 led to the cancellation of the class’s in-person Match Day and Honors Convocation ceremonies.

Ben McCormick, class president, took the Hippocratic Oath by Zoom at a beach house in Fort Morgan, surrounded by close friends and family. He said that while the experience for the class of 2020 is unique, its meaning of the oath remains the same.

“The dedication to being ‘loyal to the profession of medicine’ and to the ‘good of the sick to the utmost of (our) power’ carries even greater weight as healthcare workers face firsthand the effects of a global epidemic,” said McCormick, who is staring an internal medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

The class of 2020 is the 45th class to graduate from the USA College of Medicine, bringing the total number of physicians to graduate since the school’s opening to 2,836. About one-third of physicians practicing in the Mobile area have earned their medical degrees from USA or have completed residency training at USA Health hospitals.