The culmination of orientation weekend (July 29-31) was the White Coat Ceremony held on Sunday, July 31 in McAlister Auditorium on the Tulane University uptown campus. This formal ceremony welcomed each student individually into the medical profession and recognized the importance of the white coat as a symbol of the ideals consistent with the ethical and compassionate practice of medicine. Nearly every medical school holds this ceremony, one which has been greatly supported over the past thirty years by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The Gold Foundation is a national non-profit organization devoted to restoring and promoting humanism in medicine and reaffirming the importance of the doctor-patient relationship.
The Tulane University Barnes and Noble Bookstore donated the white coats, and the Tulane Medical Alumni Association, represented by Board Member Patrick Breaux, MD, presented each student with a stethoscope imprinted with the TMAA logo. Robert Hoover, MD, Chair of Tulane Nephrology, provided the keynote address. As students walked across the stage in their crisp white coats, they were greeted and congratulated individually by Dean Hamm and Associate Dean for Education and Academic Affairs, Chayan Chakraborti, MD. Each then stepped to the microphone to address the audience with a single word that they felt best described them. Winnie Yeates, T4, Chair of the Tulane Honor Board, spoke briefly to the students and guests about the responsibility that comes with donning a white coat and the expectations of professionalism that surround it. As a surprise to the Class of 2026, students received a personal letter of welcome and support from a parent, faculty, or alumnus which had been placed in the pockets of their white coats. After photographs and recitation of the Physicians’ Oath, Tulane Chaplain Corey Olivier provided the benediction which concluded the ceremony. Students then departed campus with their families to enjoy the Sunday afternoon in New Orleans.
More about the Arnold P. Gold Foundation:https://www.gold-foundation.org/about-us/
White Coat Ceremony Class of 2026 – https://express.adobe.com/page/FvzQbxNRIWlTW/
