Orientation at the Medical College of Wisconsin is a week long “process.” It starts bright and early on Monday morning and ends with the white coat ceremony on Friday.

I officially moved to Wauwatosa on August 5, 2006. My roommate, Joe, and I set about 3 alarms each for Monday morning. Monday is the one day that you absolutely cannot miss. The admissions committee has been known to give away your spot in the class if you are more than a few hours late.

We made it to the school plenty early and grabbed some of the provided breakfast. This was our first opportunity to meet our new classmates. Orientation officially began at 8:30am. This was when we picked up our name tags and a bag full of goodies (coffee mug and a bunch of important papers). Though I had been continually receiving emails from MCW reminding me about orientation, I was very relieved to see that was not just imagining all this, that I had a name tag.

If you want to learn more in detail about what happens at orientation, just leave a message. But, we generally got to hear from a variety of people in the school. We were welcomed many times and instructed about professionalism a few more times. Dress was business casual the first and second days. Mid week we alternated taking a professional CPR certification course and attending one of the excursions. This year we had the choice of the Milwaukee County Zoo or the Milwaukee Art Museum. (In the past I think options have also included a Brewers game.) I chose the art museum because I had already been to the zoo numerous times.

Orientation week was a chance for us to meet and interact with our peers. Having orientation over the entire week allowed us to spend more time socializing before classes started. Other events that I went to were Jazz in the Park, which Milwaukee has ever Thursday night during the summer. And, on Friday evening we went to a piano bar where some incredibly talented pianists/singers played. And let’s not forget about Hart Park and the 12 tennis courts that are only a few minute walk from our apartment. We played quite a bit of tennis during orientation week and were happy to find quite a few people to play with.

Orientation week culminates with the white coat ceremony. This event symbolically marks our entrance into medical school. It was a nicely run event for us and our parents/friends. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a video camera along, but I do have a few pictures.

I’m the guy in the back.
I’m on the far left.
I’m the one who apparently didn’t get the memo to wear dark pants.

I can’t wait to begin classes on Monday!