Class of 2027 receives white coats, GHHS inducts new members

The Class of 2027 gathered under Moulton Tower after White Coat Ceremony.

Marking their transition into clinical training, 78 third-year medical students at the Whiddon College of Medicine were cloaked with white coats in a ceremony Friday, June 20, at the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama. 

The students also read aloud the Medical Student Oath, a promise to uphold the human aspects of medicine such as sensitivity, compassion, and respect for others. 

Abhijin Das, M.D., an assistant professor of internal medicine at the Whiddon College of Medicine, presented the first keynote address. He urged the class to cultivate their soft skills – communication, empathy and bedside manners – in addition to mastering technical proficiency. 

Das called judgment and wisdom “virtues that will be the lynchpins in your clinical practice.” 

“You will frequently encounter scenarios where swift, judicious decisions must be made, often in the absence of complete information,” he added. “The ability to navigate such complexity with discernment and maturity will distinguish you as a true professional.” 

Maryann Mbaka, M.D., MBA, an assistant professor of surgery at the Whiddon College of Medicine, urged the students to practice empathy. “The ability to understand and share the feelings of another is the heartbeat of medicine,” Mbaka said. “Your patients will remember how you made them feel much more than the medication or the procedure you performed on them.” 

Nia Booth, president of the Class of 2027

She said wearing a physician’s white coat is a privilege that also brings responsibility. “There will be times when the weight of it feels heavy,” she said. “Remember that you are a part of a community, a family of physicians who want to see you thrive.” 

Nia Booth, class president, reassured her classmates that they were ready for the challenges ahead. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure,” Booth said, quoting Marianne Williamson, author of “A Return to Love.” 

“It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us,” she said. “We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?” 

The event included an induction ceremony for the USA chapter of the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society (GHHS). Inductees, elected by a vote of medical students, were chosen for practicing patient-centered medical care with integrity, compassion, and altruism. The inductees pinned one another with GHHS pins. 

The inductees included: 

Class of 2026 medical students 

• Qays Aljabi 
• Noah Baker 
• Maxon Bassett 
• Madelyn Campbell 
• Peter Doan 
• Corinne Gautreaux 
• Madison Hogans 
• Caroline Howell 
• Sridhar Karne 
• Benjamin Loftis 
• Caleb Phillips 
• Thomas Robinson 

Residents 

• Claudia Barrios, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine 
• Karl Fischer, M.D., Department of Surgery 
• Minye Seok, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine 
• Juhi Shah, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology 

Faculty 

• Abhijin Das, M.D., FACP, FASN, CMQ, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine 
• Maryann Mbaka, M.D., MBA, FACS, Assistant Professor of Surgery 

The White Coat Ceremony is sponsored in part by the USA Medical Alumni Association. 

See more photos from the ceremony on Flickr.

Gold Humanism Honor Society inductees