INDIANAPOLIS — On Aug. 8, 352 men and women will embark on a four-year journey that will culminate with a medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine. Along the way, they will experience many memorable moments, not the least of which is the White Coat Ceremony at 4:30 p.m. at the Old National Centre, 502 N. New Jersey St.
Tradition abounds at the annual event. As family and friends look on, members of the class of 2018 are presented with white coats, symbolic of clinical service. Each incoming medical student crosses the stage and is assisted into a white coat by an associate dean or faculty member.
Jay L. Hess, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the IU School of Medicine, vice president for university clinical affairs and the Walter J. Daly Professor, will present the keynote address.
The program ends with another time-honored tradition: the reciting of a Physician’s Oath, whose origins are attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates. Each student pledges to dedicate his or her life to the service of humanity and always remember that the health of the patient is the physician’s first consideration.