Reflections from Anhui Medical University Students: Student Traditions

In 2015, an exchange program was launched between Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) and Anhui Medical University (AMU) (pronounced On-Qway) in Hefei, China. Since then, a group of five to six students majoring in clinical pharmacy, accompanied by one AMU faculty member, has come to NEOMED every year.

This is the third article in a series of reflections by Anhui students who spent the 2018-2019 academic year at NEOMED. Xueting Wang (Coco) contributed this reflection.

Apart from freedom and equality, ritual, or tradition, is also an important part of American people’s life. Professors and lectures at NEOMED introduce and emphasize rituals in class. For example, exercise regularly, check email regularly and schedule time to talk to family.

The annual White Coat Ceremony is an important event for all the faculty and students at NEOMED. We were honored to be invited to witness the ceremony of College of Pharmacy students. The parents and friends of the pharmacy students are also invited to attend. With the mind-soothing background music, the president, dean of the College of Pharmacy, invited guests and the faculty come to the stage. Each freshman student will be called upon to stand on the stage, one by one after the enthusiastic speeches given by the president, the dean, and the scheduled speakers. They are granted a new white coat, which is a symbol of the profession, in the eye and blessings of the teachers, parents and friends.

The ceremony is solemn and lively. The whole process is recorded by a professional photographer and each student can find out and download his own photos in the ritual via the linkage sent by the University. Although we are just witnesses, we also deeply felt the sense of pride and responsibility due to the pharmacy major.

NEOMED’s scholarship awarding ceremony is also an important event. Similar to our evaluation systems in AMU, examination score is not the only criteria in NEOMED. The students’ professional practice and social volunteer activities will be also taken into account. Students who win the scholarship are required to not only have excellent academic performance, but also rich experience in social practice.

There are also some rituals in NEOMED for religion, culture and community, such as Diwali and the Lunar New Year Celebration. In addition, we were invited to participate in the basic etiquette training and the annual report and evaluation ceremony of the College of Pharmacy, which let us fully experience the ritual culture in America.