First-year Penn State College of Medicine medical students, including those pursuing their doctorate of medicine and doctorate of medicine/doctorate of philosophy degrees, received their first white medical coats on July 27. This year marked the college’s 23rd White Coat Ceremony.
This ceremony for the entering class of 2018 is symbolic for their entrance into the medical profession as student physicians. After they received their white coats, the students recited an Oath of Student Professionalism, which they wrote together in the days leading up to the ceremony.
The incoming class consists of 152 students selected from a pool of more than 10,820 applicants.
- The class consists of 74 women and 78 men.
- Sixty (39 percent) of the new students are Pennsylvania residents.
- The students hail from 92 undergraduate institutions.
- The students have broad backgrounds with regard to international experiences, work, talents, research and service to communities.