Transitions

Every year, second-year medical students participate in the Steven Z. Miller Student Clinician’s Ceremony to mark the transition from classroom-based instruction to patient-centered training.

The White Coat Ceremony for this class was virtual (in August 2020), so the April transition ceremony provided the first opportunity for faculty members to cloak the students in their white coats. The class members also wrote their own class oath to better represent their values and commitment to medicine and serving underserved populations. 

The Steven Z. Miller Student Clinician’s Ceremony celebrates the start of each student’s Major Clinical Year, a series of rotations through different hospital and ambulatory settings, including NewYork-Presbyterian.

Hetty Cunningham, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at CUMC, represented the clinical faculty in giving remarks to the students. The class honored Alan Detton, PhD, assistant professor of pathology & cell biology at CUMC, with the Fundamentals Outstanding Teacher Award, which recognizes classroom teaching.