Geisel School of Medicine’s White Coat ceremony was held in Dartmouth’s Rollins Chapel on Friday, September 27 where the medical students of the Class of 2028 received their short white coats, an iconic symbol of their status as physicians in training.
On behalf of Geisel’s faculty and staff, Roshini Pinto-Powell, MD, FACP, professor of medicine and associate dean of admissions, Duane A. Compton, PhD, dean of the medical school, and Sian Beilock, PhD, president of Dartmouth College, enthusiastically welcomed students, families, faculty, and staff to this special day celebrating an important milestone in medical students’ entry into the medical profession and emphasized the school’s commitment to supporting them throughout their training.
Geisel students spend their first two months of medical school in a clinical clerkship seeing simulated patients where they immediately gain hands on experience. Rather than receiving their white coats during orientation, as is common among many medical schools, this early clinical experience gives medical students an opportunity to pause and reflect on the art and science of medicine and the core concepts of humanism and professionalism that they will carry with them as they navigate their medical training while wearing this symbolic commitment to patient care.
Photos by Rob Strong
In keeping with a Geisel tradition, second-year medical student Ravi Sandho MED’27 shared his thoughts about the first year of medical school and his perception of the new class of medical students. He reassured them that they all embody the intangibles of a great physician—altruism, empathy, kindness, and goodwill to bring “healing to wounds wherever they exist in the world to make it a better place.”
Steven Angtuaco MED’28 and Julia Ketter MED’28 wrote a Dr. Suess inspired poem on behalf of the Class of 2028. Read by Angtuaco, the poem reinforced the importance of acting with integrity and trust.
And Geisel Alumni Council President Matthew Duncan MED’01, an assistant professor of psychiatry and of medical education, talked about the medical school’s physical and curricular evolution since he received his white—and evolution that paralleled his transformative journey from medical student to physician. A journey, he emphasized, that has been ongoing throughout his career.
Since the Geisel School of Medicine’s founding in 1797, the Class of 2028 is the school’s 228th MD class.
If you missed the livestream of the White Coat ceremony, you may watch a video of the celebration below.
