I medici e il camice bianco. Note storico-culturali e implicazioni per la formazione dello studente di medicina

The doctors and the white coat. Historical and cultural highlights and implications for the medical student training. This article examines the meaning that the white coat worn by physicians has in our culture, starting from its historical roots up to our time, with reference to the White Coat Ceremony, which in the USA marks the passage from internship to residency. This ceremony, in which important figures from the academic/medical world participate – that is, individuals whose duty it is to welcome the medical residents into this important phase of their studies – represents a modern rite of passage and has ethical-anthropological meaning, insofar as it represents the encounter of the future physician with the patient.