Class of 2028 to receive white coats Jan. 17
McGovern Medical School students from the Class of 2028 will take the next step in their medical education journeys when they participate in the annual White Coat Ceremony on Jan. 17.
The White Coat Ceremony begins at 1 p.m. at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts (800 Bagby St.). A live stream of the event will be available courtesy of the McGovern Medical School YouTube page.
The welcoming address for the White Coat Ceremony will be delivered by Sheela Lahoti, MD, interim vice dean for Admissions and Student Affairs. The keynote speaker for the event is Brandi Karnes, MD, assistant professor in the Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
The investiture of the white coats will be led by LaTanya Love, MD, Executive Vice President of Student and University Affairs and dean of Education, and Lahoti will lead the administration of the Oath of Hippocrates.
The 240 students composing the current class of first-year students featured an average MCAT score of 512 and a cumulative grade point average of 3.85 at their respective institutions. The class consists of 228 students from the state of Texas and 12 other states. In total, 73 undergraduate majors are represented in the Class of 2028 from 63 undergraduate colleges. The youngest student in the class is 19 years old, while the oldest student entered medical school at the age of 39.
Founded in 1993 by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, the White Coat Ceremony officially signifies the first-year medical student’s entrance into the medical profession. At the ceremony, incoming students hear from guest speakers before receiving their white coats, adorned with the McGovern Medical School logo. They then participate in the most important element of the ceremony, the Hippocratic Oath, which acknowledges a central obligation of caring for patients.