Future Doctors to Receive First White Coats at School of Medicine Ceremony

As athletes around the world stand and receive their Olympic medals with pride, another ceremony will take place locally with students receiving a symbol of pride and accomplishment.

The white coat is one of the most visible symbols of the health care provider, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine students of the Class of 2016 will take part in the White Coat Ceremony at 2 p.m. Friday (Aug. 3) at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Theatre, 1501 Mac Davis Lane.

The White Coat Ceremony stresses the importance of humanism and professionalism in the practice of medicine. The white coat has been the visual hallmark of physicians since the 19th century. This event is a rite of passage for first-year medical students that mark the student’s transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences.

Steven L. Berk, M.D., TTUHSC executive vice president, provost and dean of the School of Medicine, said more than 100 medical schools in the United States now have a white coat ceremony and many students consider it a rite of passage in the journey toward a health care career.

“For many students, dreams of putting on the white coat begin the day they are accepted into medical school. The coat symbolizes that the years of hard work and dedication have finally paid off,” Berk said. “The students’ white coat also symbolizes that they have been invited into the prestigious profession of medicine, a privilege which comes with great professional responsibility.”

The new 150 medical students include 28 from Texas Tech University, 38 from the University of Texas System, nine from Texas A&M University and others are from other top universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Vanderbilt University.

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