Surrounded by family, friends, faculty, and colleagues, the NYU School of Medicine welcomed 132 new medical students into its nationally ranked program during the White Coat Ceremony. The White Coat Ceremony welcomes those students embarking on their medical careers to the community of physicians by giving them this powerful symbol of compassion and honor. It also gives them a standard against which they must measure their every act of care to the patients who trust them.

Robert I. Grossman, MD, the Saul J. Farber dean and CEO of NYU Langone, welcomed the new students and discussed the importance of having knowledge and compassion in medicine, and how both are vital to having success in medicine and in life.

The keynote speech, titled “Listen to Me—Ethics in Doctor Patient Communication,” was delivered by Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and director of the Division of Medical Ethics within the Department of Population Health. Dr. Caplan’s speech focused on three central themes that he challenged each student to remember as they embark on their medical careers: why it is important to listen to patients; why it is important for patients to listen to doctors; and why it is important to help patients listen.

Students were then brought on stage and were “robed” in their first white coat by one of seven faculty members from the School of Medicine.

The class is comprised of 74 women and 58 men for a total of 132 students. Among the incoming students are an attorney, children’s book author, field hockey player, ballroom dancing coach, and an Afghan refugee.

This Event is Co-Sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation White Coat Ceremony welcomes entering medical students and helps establish a psychological contract for the practice of medicine. The event emphasizes the importance of compassionate care for the patient as well as scientific proficiency. Currently, a White Coat Ceremony or similar rite of passage takes place at more than 93 percent of schools of medicine and osteopathy in the United States.

Media Inquiries

Rob Magyar
Phone: 212-404-3591
robert.magyar@nyumc.org