White Coat Ceremony for Physiotherapy students

Front row, from left: Ameera, Ong, Dr Leong and Muhammad Noh Zulfikri with FMHS staff and students

The White Coat Ceremony for the second year of Physiotherapy students was held at UTAR Sungai Long Campus on 19 March 2021. The White Coat Ceremony signified the second year students’ entrance into the medical profession.

Present at the ceremony were Head of Physiotherapy Department of Hospital Kuala Lumpur Ong Hai Choo, Hospital Kuala Lumpur Local Preceptor Ameera Nadjwa binti Abu Daud, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) Deputy Dean Assoc Prof Dr Leong Pooi Pooi, FMHS Head of Physiotherapy Department Muhammad Noh Zulfikri bin Mohd Jamali, FMHS Head of Clinical Physiotherapy Programme Premala Krishnan, Organising Chairperson Tarun Amalnerkar, FMHS lecturers, clinical instructors and medical students.

Dr Leong giving her opening speech

The ceremony began on a high note with an opening speech by Dr Leong. “A very good afternoon to distinguished guests, staff and students. On behalf of UTAR FMHS Dean Emeritus Prof Dr Cheong Soon Keng, I would like to express a very warm welcome to the White Coat Ceremony of Physiotherapy students 2021. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Department of Physiotherapy, especially to the organising committee, for putting together and organising this meaningful ceremony for our Physiotherapy students,” she said and added, “The White Coat Ceremony as mentioned earlier symbolise the students’ transition from the study of pre-clinical to the clinical practice. The White Coat Ceremony also serves as a purpose of welcoming the students as they are one step closer to becoming professional colleagues, dedicated to patient care.”

“In this ceremony, you will be presented with a white coat which is a traditional symbol of the clinical practice. When you wear the white coat, you must always remind yourself about professionalism and dedication. As a physiotherapist, you must be caring, patient, and compassionate to your patients. While carrying out your professional care service in the future or while training at the training centres, please be reminded that you should work to preserve your patients’ dignity and promote their health and welfare. You must always value your patients’ lives as you value yours,” she advised.

From left: Dr Leong, Ong, Premala and Muhammad Noh Zulfikri officiating the ceremony

Subsequently, Chief Guest Ong, Dr Leong, Ameera, Muhammad Noh Zulfikri and Premala were invited to the stage to officiate the ceremony. It was followed by the presentation of UTAR corporate video. The emcees, Lau Hong Jie and Crystal Loh Hui Mei, introduced the chief guest and shared her educational background and experiences before inviting her over to give an inspiring speech.

Ong defining professionalism

In her speech, Ong emphasised on professionalism, professional development and standard of practice. While defining professionalism, Ong said, “A professional person is expected to have a particular set of skills in their chosen field, at a level that can be considered an expert. This will have been acquired through learning, knowledge, training and practice of the relevant skills and, in most cases, this can be demonstrated by qualification or accreditation. The validity of this expertise is maintained by ongoing training throughout the course of a medical career.”

She then added, “A high level of professionalism is expected when working with clients. To improve your professionalism, you should focus on improving certain areas. These areas include specialised knowledge; competency; honesty and integrity; respect; accountability; self-regulation and image.”

Ameera explaining the roles of a local preceptor

Ameera, on the other hand, gave an informative speech that focused on the roles of a local preceptor. She said, “A local preceptor acts as a liaison officer between the training institute and the clinical hospital. The local preceptor is responsible to plan and implement clinical training activities and learning programmes. They also need to ensure that the trainees get adequate exposure during the clinical practice. Other roles include providing guidance to trainees throughout the clinical placement period; providing a conducive environment to enable teaching and learning activities; assisting in carrying out trainee evaluation  activities; monitoring and evaluating the performance of each trainee and ensuring that the basic principles are adhered to by each trainee.”

She also provided information on Student Information Package (SIP). “One of the objectives of SIP is to provide information on placement facilities, rules and regulation, work process/procedures, administrative and patient safety policies, professional expectation and training activities during the clinical training. Hence, it is important that you know your SIP,” she said.

Physiotherapy students listening attentively

Following the speeches, the students were invited to the stage to receive their white coats. The white coats for the first batch of second-year Physiotherapy students were delivered by Ong and Muhammad Noh Zulfikri. The students from the second and third batches received their white coats from Dr Leong and Premala.

Students receiving their white coats

Following that, Student Representative Tan Sweet Lee was invited to the stage to lead the recitation of student’s “Oath of Commitment” which served as a pledge of their acceptance to all the duties and responsibilities associated with their profession.

Student Representative Tan Sweet Lee leading the recital of the Oath of Commitment

Students reciting the Oath of Commitment

To enliven the atmosphere, the ceremony also witnessed two beautiful performances from the FMHS students. The first performance was a singing performance by Tan May Jynn and Tan Wei Wern. They sang a wonderful rendition of “This is Me” by Keala Settle from The Greatest Showman. It was followed by a mesmerizing group performance by Voon Sin Yee, Tee Jian Heng, Siew Yuet Xin and Tan Sweet Lee. They performed a song titled “Love yourself” by Justin Bieber.

Tan May Jynn and Tan Wei Wern singing “This is Me” by Keala Settle from The Greatest Showman

Students performing “Love yourself” by Justin Bieber

The ceremony concluded with the presentation of a token of appreciation to the distinguished guests by Dr Leong, followed by a group photography session.

From left: Dr Leong presenting a token of appreciation to Ong

From left: Dr Leong presenting a token of appreciation to Ameera

Q&A session in progress

The emcees, from left: Lau Hong Jie and Crystal Loh Hui Mei

Front row, seated: The academics of FMHS