The annual White Coat Ceremony at Drexel University College of Medicine welcomed 260 incoming medical school students and their families along with Drexel University College of Medicine faculty and staff.

Joseph Capo, entering his first year at the College of Medicine, was cloaked by three family members. His father and the College of Medicine’s Alumni Association President, Joseph M. Capo, MD, ’82; his aunt, Angela Capo Granata, MD, ’86; and his sister Catherine, a second-year Drexel University College of Medicine student, all did the honors of draping Capo’s white coat around his shoulders.

The cloaking followed a speech given by Alumni President Capo who told the story of his family’s “tradition” with Drexel University College of Medicine. Then, the excited first-year medical students donned their white coats for the first time and took the Hippocratic Oath in front of proud family and friends.

The keynote speaker, Jack Kelly, MD, chief of staff at Abington Memorial Hospital, delivered a humorous and at the same time serious talk on the meaning of being a doctor.

About the White Coat Ceremony

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 new generation of physicians with a renewed focus on compassion.