Year 2019 marked 30 years from the first White Coat Ceremony in the United States held at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Since its inception, the ceremony has been adopted by other health professions in the US and abroad to mark the passage from didactic to clinical training. The timing of the ceremony may differ from school to school or from program to program, depending whether clinical experiences are concurrent with or after classroom instruction. Nevertheless, the intention is to symbolically present the students with guidelines regarding the professional expectations of future health providers who are about to be trusted with lives and well-being of the patients.
The White Coat symbolizes humility and purity of intentions, respect and authority stemming from knowledge and compassion. The ceremony of student coating communicates the faculty trust in the students' competency and readiness for the critical step in their education when the tests are no longer mock, the samples no longer spiked and situations no longer simulated. Behind every medical record number on the requisition, test tube, microscope slide, tissue block or image, there is someone's loved one - their mother, child or friend. They deserve the provider's utmost attention, skillful analysis and proficient assessment. The may await a result that will change their life forever.
On May 27, 2021 the Third Annual White Coat Ceremony for the School of Medical Diagnostic and Translational Sciences students was held. The Nuclear Medicine Technology program joined this year the students enrolled in the programs of Cytotechnology and Medical Laboratory Science.