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<p>The largest class in the 112-year history of the Indiana University School of Medicine will participate in a time-honored ceremony Friday when 355 future doctors don the traditional white medical coats and repeat in unison the Physician&#8217;s Oath as family and friends observe.</p>

Members of IU School of Medicine’s largest class experience White Coat Ceremony on Friday

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White Coat Ceremony, 8-8-14, Old National Center, (Murat), (L-R) Dr.’s Fen-Lei Chang FW and John Watkins Bloom

INDIANAPOLIS — The largest class in the 112-year history of the Indiana University School of Medicine will participate in a time-honored ceremony Friday when 355 future doctors don the traditional white medical coats and repeat in unison the Physician’s Oath as family and friends observe.

During the White Coat Ceremony, first-year students are assisted by medical school faculty into the white coats that symbolize clinical service. This year’s ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Hilbert Circle Theatre, 45 Monument Circle.

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 welcome the incoming students and their families and deliver the keynote address.

Friday’s event concludes a week of orientation, beginning with a medical service-learning project at Gleaners Food Bank. More than 170 first-year medical students participated in the project at Gleaners on Wednesday before returning to campus for class photos, campus tours, career advice and displays about other service organizations seeking student volunteers.

This year’s orientation week was extended to include events to help students meet their new colleagues and learn about the institution as they enroll in one of the largest medical schools in the nation. IU medical students are assigned to one of nine regional campuses where they receive their four years of training. Campuses are located in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, Indianapolis, Muncie, South Bend, Terre Haute and West Lafayette.