White Coat Ceremony signifies changing roles and responsibilities of dental students

It’s a simple garment—a white coat, with wide lapels and a pocket on the chest. To students studying dentistry or medicine, however, it signifies much more. It signifies a milestone, a change in roles, and a promise to uphold their profession.

And next week, students in the second year of the DMD Advanced Standing and third year of the DMD programs at the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) will don their white coats for the first time during a ceremony in front of family, friends, faculty, and staff.

White coat ceremonies are a relatively new practice—the first took place at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York on August 20, 1993. The ceremony was instituted by Dr. Arnold P. Gold, a professor at Columbia, who believed that medical students should be given guidelines regarding the expectations and responsibilities appropriate for the medical profession before they started their education and training.

Since then, the ceremony has spread to different institutions around the world and to different branches of healthcare, including medical, nursing, veterinary, and dental schools.

According to Dr. Joseph Calabrese, clinical associate professor of General Dentistry, director of Geriatric Dental Medicine, and associate dean of students, GSDM originally held an informal white coat ceremony during orientation of incoming predoctoral students, but then switched to a professional ceremony to better reflect the student’s journey through dental school.

“The professional ceremony marks the entrance of the DMD and DMD AS students into the profession of dentistry and start of their academic path through dental education,” Calabrese explained.

In 2011, however, the DMD Class of 2013 and the DMD AS Class of 2012 approached GSDM Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter regarding bringing the white coat ceremony back. Around the same time, members from GSDM’s chapter of the American Student Dental Association (ASDA) approached Calabrese about hosting a family weekend at the School. The decision was then made to combine the two, opening both the white coat ceremony and the School to family and friends of the students.

While many other dental schools hold their white coat ceremony at the beginning of the first year—as GSDM used to do—GSDM now holds theirs before the start of the DMD class’ third year and the DMD AS class’ second year. By doing so, the school marks the midway point of the students’ education as both the donning of their professional white coat and recitation of their Professional Oath, during which they pledge themselves to the service of humanity, patients, community, and profession, symbolizes the students entry into the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine Patient Treatment Centers.

This year, the white coat ceremony will be held on Saturday, July 6, 2019, in Metcalf Hall at the George Sherman Union on the University’s Charles River Campus (CRC). Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter will serve as the master of ceremony, Dr. Chad P. Gehani, president-elect of the American Dental Association, will deliver the key-note address, while Dr. Calabrese and Dr. Cataldo Leone, Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs will respectively provide welcoming remarks and the presentation of the students.

“I think it means a lot to everyone involved,” Calabrese said. “It means a lot to the students, to show their accomplishments and their appreciation to family, friends, faculty and staff who have helped them get this far. … There’s a certain level of excitement and pride in any family or faculty member who watches their child or student go across the stage.”