The White Coat Ceremony is a rite of passage that marks a student’s first step into the health care professions.
Parents beam with pride. Students celebrate all they have achieved and look toward the journey ahead.
It’s a significant, meaningful and inspiring moment.
This month, UNMC distributed hundreds of white coats to first-year pharmacy, medicine, allied health and dentistry students. Ceremonies for nursing students are yet to come.
The symbolic white coat instills the values of professionalism, humanism and compassionate care, as well as the responsibilities of the profession and the student’s commitment to maintain professional attitudes and behaviors.
Each fall, the UNMC Alumni Councils support the white coat professionalism ceremonies and, in turn, the students write thank you notes back to the donors. This year, for the first time, the Alumni Association collected well wishes from alumni and shared them with students through the thank you note writing process, on social media and via email for a rewarding, full-circle experience.
The ceremony for the UNMC College of Dentistry was held Aug. 19 at the Nebraska East Union on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus.
The College of Allied Health Professions had 17 sites participating virtually, in addition to about 280 students in person at Baxter Arena.
White coats have been distributed – time to celebrate (and then to get to work 😉). We are happy to welcome you to the UNMC College of Medicine! Looking forward to seeing you back at graduation in four years. #UNMCwhitecoat pic.twitter.com/AOwpsHlSgD
— Dr. Bradley E. Britigan (@BradleyBritigan) August 19, 2022