White Coat Ceremony welcomes Stritch medical students into profession of medicine

The largest class of first-year medical students at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) will receive their first white medical coats in a ceremony that emphasizes the privilege of being able to care for patients and responsibility that comes with wearing the coat.

"The White Coat Ceremony welcomes Stritch medical students into the profession of medicine. This ceremony confirms that Stritch students will uphold the public trust, work toward social justice and accept the responsibilities incumbent on doctors," said Linda Brubaker, MD, MS, dean of the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

For more than 100 years the white coat has symbolized care, compassion and respect. This year 157 first-year medical students, the largest class in SSOM history, will receive their coats from faculty members and other physicians, including some parents, as a symbol of the passing on of knowledge and patient care to the next generation.