Following a week of orientation at Oakland University William Beaumont (OUWB) School of Medicine, the Class of 2020 received its official welcome to medical school during the White Coat Ceremony on August 5.

The ceremony is a tradition in the medical field as physicians have worn white coats for more than 100 years to symbolize the trust between patient and doctor.

Inspiring remarks by Founding Dean Robert Folberg, M.D., and Associate Dean of Student Affairs Angela Nuzzarello, M.D., commemorated the beginning of the medical school journey for OUWB’s sixth class.

In front of family and friends, the students were called individually to the stage to be cloaked in their first physician white coats and stethoscopes by their Beaumont physician mentors. The mentors, through the school’s PRISM program, will provide students with career development and personal support throughout their four years.

The ceremony concluded with another tradition, as the first-year medical students recited the Declaration of Geneva. The declaration is a revision of the Hippocratic oath, a pledge made by physicians to signify their commitment to the humanitarian goals of medicine.