Every August, new Drexel University College of Medicine students participate in the White Coat Ceremony, marking their entrance in medical school. This tradition is celebrated across the country and is an important first step for these future physicians as they receive the traditional symbol of clinical care and service — the white coat.

A photo album from the event is available on our Facebook page.

The new medical students were welcomed at this year's ceremony by Daniel V. Schidlow, MD, Annenberg Dean and SVP of medical affairs, and Raymond S. Schreyer, MD, president of the Alumni Association. The event's keynote speaker was Richard W. Sloan, MD, RPh, associate dean for regional medical campus and director of medical education at WellSpan York Hospital.

After donning their white coats, the students recited the Hippocratic Oath. Doing so at the beginning of their education in the presence of family, significant others, friends, faculty, board members, administrators and alumni makes the students more aware of their responsibility from the very first day of their training, not just to "take care" of their patients, but to care for them. The Oath is a promise to practice medicine ethically.

The first White Coat Ceremony took place in 1993 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. The concept has spread to encompass 90 percent of medical schools nationwide. It was designed to produce a generation of physicians with a renewed focus on compassion.