30 Doctors Don New White Coats as Part of Bayhealth's Graduate Medical Education Program
On June 23, Bayhealth hosted a White Coat Ceremony at Bayhealth Sussex Campus officially welcoming 30 new doctors to its Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs. The ceremony celebrates their transition from medical student to physician resident as the new doctors remove the short, white coat worn in medical school and replace them with the longer, white coat worn by physicians.
“Much more than a stepping stone in your medical training, we want Bayhealth to be a new home for you. This community is here to make you successful,” said Bayhealth President and CEO Terry Murphy, FACHE. “Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?’ I believe choosing to become a physician is fundamentally a decision to serve others.”
As the first teaching hospital in central and southern Delaware, Bayhealth has established GME programs in family medicine, internal medicine, general surgery, and new this year, emergency medicine.
“Wearing this coat comes with a host of responsibilities, along with an immense opportunity to transform lives,” said Bayhealth Colorectal Surgeon and GME Chair Assar Rather, MD. “In this next chapter of your career, you will be taking care of someone’s most precious gift: Their life.”
Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director Dean E. Johnson, MD, MS, FACEP, welcomed the first class of residents to his program.
“We hope that one day you’ll look back and be proud to say that you were instrumental in creating a legacy training program for emergency physicians and ultimately, to strengthening access to high-quality and timely care for local community members who needed it most,” he said.
First established in 2019, the GME programs bolster the health system’s mission of strengthening the health of its community, one life at a time. Now with a total of 73 residents, the continued expansion of Bayhealth’s GME programs means greater access to care for residents across the area.
There are several ways to support graduate medical education at Bayhealth. Visit Bayhealth.org/Foundation, email Foundation@Bayhealth.org or call 302-744-7015 to learn where your donation can help the most.