PHOTOS: PT Class of 2027 Celebrates White Coat Ceremony
Apr 15, 2026
For the College of Health Sciences' Physical Therapy Class of 2027, April 9, 2026 will always be remembered as the night they received their white coats. The class poured into the Singletary Center for the Arts and one by one, and donned their coats — a rite of passage for health profession students.
The first White Coat ceremony was held in 1993 at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, created by Dr. Arnold P. Gold to "emphasize humanism in medicine from day one," according to the American Medical Association.
It has become a standard tradition in medical education to reinforce that patient care begins immediately, not just after graduation.