MEDIA ADVISORY: August 6, 2008
Contact: Anne McMillin, APR
Office 775-682-9254
Mobile 702-292-4247
amcmillin@medicine.nevada.edu
University of Nevada School of Medicine to hold
12th Annual White Coat Ceremony on August 15
Media invited to ceremony affirming incoming Class of 2012
RENO, Nev.— Media are invited to attend the University of Nevada School of Medicine’s 12th Annual White Coat ceremony where new medical students from the Class of 2012 will affirm their commitment to the medical profession. The ceremony will be held Friday, August 15 at 3 p.m. inside the Joe Crowley Student Union Ballroom.
Incoming medical students will participate in the cloaking ceremony which symbolically welcomes them 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.
This year, the School of Medicine welcomes a diverse class of students with undergraduate degrees ranging from theater to economics to anthropology. Of the 62 new students, 57 are Nevada residents with 16 graduates from the University of Nevada, Reno and 10 graduates from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The average age of these students is 24 and collectively, they earned an average undergraduate GPA of 3.6. Among this year’s entering students are a nanny, a tennis instructor, a military linguist, a hair grafting technician and a motorcycle mechanic.
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 percent of all schools of medicine and osteopathy in the United States. 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 a leader in healthcare, medical education and research in Nevada since 1969. The School of Medicine includes 16 clinical departments including family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and five nationally recognized departments in basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. The more than 185 doctors of University Health System, the school’s clinical practice, offer care in more than 40 medical specialties and subspecialties with eight physician offices in the Reno/Sparks area and seven in Las Vegas. The school is committed to a best practices approach to medicine and is dedicated to exceptional healthcare for Nevada now and in the future. For more information visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.