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'[[Image:Lab coat and scrubs.jpg|thumb|A [[white coat]] worn by a [[Canadian]] [[gastroenterologist]].]] The '''white coat ceremony''' ('''WCC''') is a relatively new [[ritual]] in some [[medical]] (both [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]] and [[Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine|DO]]), [[optometry]], [[audiology]], [[dentistry|dental]], [[chiropractic]], [[occupational therapy]], [[physical therapy]], [[podiatry|podiatric]], [[pharmacy]], [[physician assistant]], Pathologists' Assistant, [[nursing]], naturopathic and [[veterinary medicine|veterinary medical]] schools that marks the [[student]]'s transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. At some schools, where students begin meeting patients early in their education, the white coat ceremony is held before the first year begins. WCCs typically involve a formal "robing" or "cloaking" of students. ==Description== Over 100 medical schools in the USA now have a WCC, and many students now consider it a [[rite of passage]] in the journey toward a healthcare career. Some schools also use this as a graduation from the entire program. For example, [[Moreno Valley College]] has a White Coat Ceremony for the Physician Assistant students at the end of their final term, where the short coats are discarded and long coats are given as a symbol of being equal clinicians to others who have earned the long coats. According to some{{who|date=June 2012}}, WCCs have taken on a quasi-religious significance, that symbolizes a "conversion" of a [[lay person]] into a member of the healthcare profession<ref name=veatch>{{cite journal |author=Veatch RM |title=White coat ceremonies: a second opinion |journal=J Med Ethics |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=5–9 |date=February 2002 |pmid=11834749 |doi= 10.1136/jme.28.1.5|url=http://jme.bmj.com/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=11834749 |pmc=1733513}}</ref> and is similar to a priest's ordination to the [[priesthood]], although it is notable that the white coat is a recent adoption by the medical profession. In the nineteenth century respect for the certainty of science was in stark contrast to the [[quackery]] and [[Medieval medicine|mysticism]] of nineteenth century medicine. To emphasize the transition to the more scientific approach to modern medicine, physicians sought to represent themselves as scientists and began to wear the most recognizable symbol of the scientist - the white laboratory coat.<ref>Jones VA, "The White Coat: Why not Follow Suit?" JAMA. 1999;281:478. [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/281/5/478 Full Text].</ref> This led to the more recent association of the white coat with medicine since its continued adoption. ==History== [[File:WCC in Graz 2012.jpg|thumb|White Coat Ceremony in Graz (Austria) 2012]] [[File:RCSI Bahrain White coat ceremony 2.JPG|thumb|[[RCSI Bahrain]] students taking a group photo following the 2013 White coat ceremony]] WCCs originated in [[University of Chicago]]'s [[Pritzker School of Medicine]] in 1989,<ref name="warren">Warren, Peter M. "[http://articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/18/local/me-23619 For New Medical Students, White Coats Are a Warmup]" ''Los Angeles Times'', 18 October 1999.</ref> but the first full-fledged ceremony was at the [[Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons]].<ref name="warren"/>In 1993, Dr. Arnold P. Gold, a teacher and pediatric neurologist, created the first full-fledged WCC at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbiamedicinemagazine.org/features/fall-2013/celebrating-20-years-white-coat-ceremony|title=Celebrating 20 Years of the White Coat Ceremony|work=Columbia Medicine Magazine|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref> Before this ceremony, medical students typically received the Hippocratic Oath for the first time at commencement.<ref name="columbia.edu">{{cite web|url=http://ps.columbia.edu/education/student-life/ceremonies-events/white-coat-ceremony|title=White Coat Ceremony|publisher=|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref> This ceremony marks a change in tradition, introducing students to the Oath before starting their first year of study.<ref name="columbia.edu"/> This was intended to provide students with well-defined guidelines regarding the expectations and responsibilities appropriate for the medical profession prior to their first day of class.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://medschool.umaryland.edu/professionalism/Humanism/WhiteCoat.asp|title=White Coat Ceremony - History|publisher=|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref> Since its conception at Columbia, the WCC has spread rapidly to [[Medical education in the United States|schools of medicine]], dentistry, [[Osteopathic medicine in the United States|osteopathic medicine]], and nursing worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nymc.edu/OfficesAndServices/PublicRelations/PressReleases/CurrentPressReleases/07-22-15.html|title=New York Medical College - Press Releases|publisher=|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref> Since starting in the US, several medical schools in countries outside of the [[USA]] (such as [[Iran]], [[Israel]], [[Canada]], [[United Kingdom|UK]], [[Dominican Republic]], [[Brazil]] and [[Poland]]) have also started holding WCCs. The ceremony is no longer limited to medical students; starting in 1995, US pharmacy schools started holding WCCs, with the difference that most pharmacy students receive their coats at the end of their first academic year. In 2003 a survey found that the majority of US pharmacy schools hold WCCs.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Brown DL, Ferrill MJ, Pankaskie MC |title=White coat ceremonies in US schools of pharmacy |journal=Ann Pharmacother |volume=37 |issue=10 |pages=1414–9 |date=October 2003 |pmid=14519030 |doi=10.1345/aph.1D124 |url=}}</ref> The Gold-sponsored version of the WCC, or a similar rite of passage, is currently used by 97 percent of Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)-accredited schools of medicine in the United States, and takes place at medical and osteopathic schools in 13 other countries. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://humanism-in-medicine.org/programs/rituals/white-coat-ceremony/|title=The Arnold P. Gold Foundation White Coat Ceremony - The Arnold P. Gold Foundation|work=The Arnold P. Gold Foundation|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref> In December 2006 the first white coat ceremony was held by Fatima Jinnah Dental College (FJDC), in Karachi, [[Pakistan]]. On October 13, in 2010, the faculty of medicine at the University of Cologne, Germany, became the first German-speaking University to integrate this ritual into its programme.<ref name="cologne">"[http://www.fsmed-koeln.de/aktionen/white-coat-ceremony.html White Coat Ceremony, Fachschaft Medizin Köln]" White Coat Ceremony, Fachschaft Medizin Köln</ref> Initiated by then-student representative Hormos Salimi Dafsari in Cologne,<ref>"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOi0gGa-syw White Coat Ceremony Winter 2010 Cologne, Key Note Speech Hormos Salimi Dafsari]" White Coat Ceremony Winter 2010 Cologne, Key Note Speech Hormos Salimi Dafsari</ref> the ceremony has been spread to various German cities such as Leipzig and Halle via channels of the German Medical Students' Association (bvmd).<ref>"[[:de:Bundesvertretung der Medizinstudierenden in Deutschland|Bundesvertretung der Medizinstudierenden in Deutschland e.V. (bvmd)]]" Bundesvertretung der Medizinstudierenden in Deutschland e.V. (bvmd) Wikipedia Page</ref> On April 12, 2010, [http://www.uq.edu.au/pharmacy/index.html?page=133159 The University of Queensland's(Australia) School of Pharmacy] became the first in Australia to adopt the ceremony for its incoming Bachelor of Pharmacy students. In September 2011, Jagiellonian University in Kraków became the first medical school in Poland to introduce a white coat ceremony for the incoming class. [http://www.cm-uj.krakow.pl/uj_2010/collegium_medicum/film/whitecoats.php]" On February 28, 2011, the Faculty of Medicine at the [http://www.unipmn.it Università del Piemonte Orientale "Amedeo Avogadro"] in Novara became the first Italian medical school to introduce a white coat ceremony for its third year students.<ref>"Debutto per la Cerimonia del Camice Bianco, [http://www.pmnet.it/dett_news.asp?id=18080 NovaraOggi.com]"</ref> On October 5, 2012, the Faculty of Medicine at the [[Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy|University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Gr. T. POPA" of Iasi]], [[Romania]], became the first Romanian university to integrate this ritual, for its first year medical students, into the symbolism of developing as a physician. On October 8, 2012, the [[Medical University of Graz]] became the first university in Austria to celebrate a White Coat Ceremony of its third-year students. On December 6, 2012, the School of Medicine at the All American Institute of Medical Sciences, Jamaica, became the first in Jamaica to introduce this ritual, for its Basic Sciences medical students. In 2014 the Arnold P. Gold Foundation for Humanism in Medicine partnered with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to pilot the White Coat Ceremony at nursing schools. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aacn.nche.edu/news/articles/2014/gold-foundation-white-coat|title=American Association of Colleges of Nursing - The Arnold P. Gold Foundation and AACN Initiate White Coat Ceremony|publisher=|accessdate=28 August 2015}}</ref> == See also == * [[Pinning ceremony]] for [[nurse]]s ==References== <references/> {{DEFAULTSORT:White Coat Ceremony}} [[Category:Ceremonies]] [[Category:Fashion-related occasions]] [[Category:Medical education]] [[Category:Medical ethics]] [[Category:Rites of passage]]'