Newly coated students at the Long Island ceremony.

Aspiring D.O.s Receive White Coats

The College of Osteopathic Medicine welcomed incoming students at its annual White Coat Ceremonies in Jonesboro, Ark., and Long Island, N.Y., where a total of more than 400 aspiring osteopathic physicians (D.O.s) received white coats.

Widely viewed as the official start of medical school, the annual celebrations signify the beginning of students’ medical education journey. The white coat has served as a symbol of cleanliness, trust, and healing since the late 1800s, when physicians began adopting the lab coats worn by scientists to align themselves with the increasingly scientific approach to medicine. Today, medical students wear shorter white coats while in training and longer coats when entering the field as physicians.

Medical student Ashley Lamkin was coated by her father, Tony Lamkin.

At this year’s White Coat Ceremonies, the incoming class prepared to fill the shoes of the Class of 2025, whose members achieved a match rate of more than 99 percent and earned residencies at esteemed institutions such as Georgetown University (emergency medicine), Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (internal medicine), Penn State Hershey Medical Center (anesthesiology), and Yale New Haven Health (pediatrics), among many others. In addition, 14 physicians are currently completing their residencies in branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.