First-year medical students Shruti Misra (CAMED’27) (front left) and Michelle Surets (CAMED’27) donning their white coats, with Misra assisted by Angela Jackson, a Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine associate professor of medicine and associate dean of students, and Surets by Ebonie Woolcock (CAMED’10, SPH’10), an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and assistant dean for diversity and inclusion.

New Bu Medical Students

White Coat Ceremony Marks Entrance to Medical Profession for 146 First-Year BU Medical Students

Message to doctors-to-be: “We have a mandate to use our privilege to change and improve our healthcare system”

In an annual tradition marking the entrance of first-year medical students into the medical profession, students at Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine gathered with their families, friends, faculty, and staff under a tent on Talbot Green for the annual White Coat Ceremony August 1.

Kristen Goodell, associate dean for admissions, presented the 146 members of the 175th entering class. “You should know that our shared intention is for you to reach your goals, so that you can set about making the world a better place,” said Goodell, an assistant professor of family medicine.

Organized by the Student Affairs Office, the White Coat Ceremony is both a symbolic rite of passage and one grounded in the reality of hard work and responsibility. Angela Jackson, associate dean for student affairs and an associate professor of medicine, told students their white coats are “visible evidence that you are joining this profession, taking your first steps along this path to a demanding, but so rewarding, career in medicine.”

At the heart of medical education is the passing along of knowledge from one generation to the next, and the focal point of the ceremony is the actual donning of the coat—when the faculty advisor each student will have for the next four years helps him or her into their white coat.

“When you put on your white coat for the first time today, the message is that, as of today, you are now already a part of the profession,” said Karen Antman, dean of the medical school and provost of the Medical Campus.

This year’s entering class was chosen from more than 10,600 applicants from 30 states, representing 65 undergraduate colleges and universities. Ranging in age from 20 to 34, the entering class speaks 22 different languages (86 percent speak more than one language) and 17 percent are from groups underrepresented in medicine.

“In cultural, social, economic, racial, ethnic, gender identity, educational, and linguistic terms, and in your life experiences, you define the pluralism that we so value on this campus and which is so central to our society,” Goodell told the students.

Putting on the white coat embroidered with his name was an emotional moment for Nnaemeka Nwoke (CAMED’27), who wiped away tears as he walked back to his seat.

“I’m still processing that this is a reality,” he said. “To have gone through all the nitty-gritty details and overcome all the challenges and obstacles and persevered, this literally means the world to me.”

Originally from Nigeria, Nwoke moved to Tampa, Fla., in 2014 to attend the University of South Florida (USF), graduating in 2018. He’s wanted to become a physician since age 10, and he worked at USF’s medical school and a private neurology practice before being admitted to BU.

“One of the things that stood out was that BU is truly focused on teaching us how to care for people of all walks of life, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status,” he said.

That view of health equity was espoused by guest speaker Kate Walsh, Massachusetts secretary of health and human services and former president and CEO of Boston Medical Center (BMC) Health System.

“We have a mandate to use our privilege to change and improve our healthcare system,” Walsh said. “We need this entire generation of doctors to go beyond the traditional boundaries of medicine to create a healthier, more equitable world.”

She urged the medical students to do the research that cures disease and alleviates suffering, to engage with and eliminate disparities in health outcomes because of race and ethnicity, and to understand and address factors that cause poor health.

Ekta Karkala (CAMED’27), from Union City, Calif., said she was drawn to the school because of its social mission and that of BMC, its primary teaching affiliate and Boston’s safety net hospital.

“We provide for a lot of underprivileged and underserved communities and I think it’s a really beautiful mission and I’m really grateful to be a part of it,” Karkala said.