MD White Coat Ceremony is rite of passage for new students
EVMS held its traditional MD White Coat Ceremony on Aug. 18, a rite of passage for the 151 first-year medical students.
Alfred Abuhamad, MD, President, Provost and Dean of the School of Medicine, welcomed students and guests to the ceremony, held at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk.
“The White Coat Ceremony affirms the core values we hold dearly in medicine: professionalism, integrity, compassion, empathy and dedication,” says Dr. Abuhamad. “This ceremony reinforces the reasons all physicians and I answered our professional calling — to care for those less fortunate, to comfort the sick and to make a difference in the lives of those we serve.”
In his keynote remarks, Rolando DeLeon, MD (MD ’82), Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University, urged students to recognize the gift of becoming a physician and the great significance of the work.
“Right now, as we are gathered here, there are thousands and thousands of people, who don’t even know you, yet are patiently waiting for you to finish medical school, become physicians and complete residencies to be the healers in their lives,” Dr. DeLeon says. “It is for them that we do this. It is for them that we study. It is for them that we learn, develop and sharpen our diagnostic and surgical skills.”
Baylee Marin, a member of the MD Class of 2027 from Houston, Texas, participated in the ceremony as a first-generation college student and medical student.
“It definitely feels very surreal to be here today," she says. “It just feels so sweet to be able to share in this moment with not only my family who has come from out of state to support me in this endeavor... but also all of the faculty and staff and my classmates.
“I think that everyone is kind of sharing in that joy.”
View the MD White Coat Ceremony photo gallery.