MEDIA ADVISORY:  August 13, 2007

Contact:  Anne McMillin
Public Relations Specialist
775-682-9254
amcmillin@medicine.nevada.edu

University of Nevada School of Medicine to hold 11th annual

White Coat Ceremony for class of 2011

RENO, Nev.—Sixty-two new students will affirm their commitment to the medical profession at the University of Nevada School of Medicine 11th annual White Coat Ceremony to be held Friday, August 17 at 3 p.m. inside the Lawlor Events Center Silver and Blue Room.

Incoming medical students in the Class of 2011 will participate in the cloaking ceremony which symbolically welcomes students into the healthcare profession and helps establish a psychological contract for the practice of medicine.  The ceremony concludes the students’ orientation week and is part of the School of Medicine’s Family Day celebration.

In addition to the White Coat Ceremony, the School of Medicine’s annual Family Day offers students and their families the opportunity to participate in workshops aimed at informing them as to what to expect during the next four years of medical education.  Family Day begins at 8 a.m. with the Dean’s Pancake Breakfast on the lawn between the Howard and Manville Buildings in the medical education complex on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.  The breakfast provides students and families the opportunity to meet the dean as well as associate and assistant deans as they serve breakfast.

The White Coat Ceremony was initiated in 1993 at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.  Grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 1996 and 1997 made future and widespread advocacy of this celebratory and solemn event possible.  Currently, a White Coat Ceremony or similar rite of passage takes place at more than 90% of all schools of medicine and osteopathy in the United States, as well as at all four medical schools in Israel.  The event emphasizes the importance of compassionate care for the patient as well as scientific proficiency.

At the ceremony, students are welcomed by their deans and other respected leaders who represent the values of the school and the new profession the students are about to enter.  The cloaking with the white coat—the mantle of the medical profession—is a hands-on experience that underscores the bonding process.  Each student is cloaked with the white coat by individuals that believe in the students’ ability to carry on the noble tradition of doctoring.  It is a personally delivered gift of faith, confidence and compassion.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine held its first White Coat Ceremony in 1996 for the graduating Class of 2000. 

As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been meeting statewide healthcare, educational, and clinical needs since 1969.  The School of Medicine encompasses 16 clinical medical education departments, including Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, as well as ten nationally-recognized departments within basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering.  As the largest multi-specialty healthcare focus within the state, the School of Medicine employs more than 185 doctors who both teach and practice medicine throughout Nevada.  The school’s statewide faculty physician practice group has a combined 25 different medical specialties with seven physician practice offices located in the Reno-Sparks area and five physician offices located in Las Vegas.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine utilizes a best-practice approach to medicine and is committed to addressing the health needs of Nevada now and in the future. For more information, please visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.

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