August 20, 2008

The School of Medicine at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) will hold its White Coat Ceremony for first-year medical students. Each of the 181 members of the Class of 2012 will be presented with the traditional white coat in the presence of family, friends, faculty and staff. The white coat is a powerful symbol of both professional competence and human compassion.

The ceremony will be 2 p.m., Sunday, August 24 at the Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South.

In previous years, the White Coat Ceremony marked the beginning of the medical school experience. Reflecting an overall curriculum change at UAB, the ceremony this year follows the completion of the new student's first class, Patient, Doctor, Society. That class focuses on the role physicians play in our society, with emphasis on professionalism, compassion, responsibility, ethics and the doctor/patient relationship. Students will take an oath of dedication at the ceremony written by the students themselves over the course of the first class.

The featured address will be delivered by F. Stanford Massie, M.D., associate professor of medicine and winner of the 2008 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, as chosen by the class of 2008.

 The ceremonial presentation of white coats to medical students is a common practice at medical schools throughout the nation. The ceremony and oath of commitment to patient care remind incoming students of the dedication necessary to complete a medical education as well as underscore the responsibilities inherent in the practice of medicine.

 The White Coat Ceremony is supported by gifts from the UAB Medical Alumni Association, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.