The University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia celebrated its M.D. classes of 2026 and 2027 with White Coat Ceremonies at the Koger Center in late September. The event, which had to be postponed last fall for the class of 2026 due to Hurricane Ian, marks one of the most significant milestones in a medical student’s career.
The White Coat Ceremony was created in 1993 by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, and the organization notes the Ceremony is “an iconic ritual that emphasizes compassionate, collaborative, scientifically excellent care from the very first day of training in the health care professions.”
School of Medicine Columbia interim dean, Dr. Gerald Harmon, participating in his first White Coat Ceremony at USC, enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate the students and their future career in medicine.
“I found the ceremony to be personally energizing - engaging with future physicians in training and their loving families and friends as we welcomed them all into the ‘family of medicine,’ while reminding all of us to ‘remember our WHY’ in choosing health care as a career path,” Harmon said.
Medical students from both the classes of 2026 and 2027 walked across the stage at the Koger Center in downtown Columbia and met interim dean Harmon who placed their white coat on their shoulders, symbolically welcoming them into the health care profession. The students also recited and signed the Pledge of Commitment.
Dr. Eric Williams, associate dean for student affairs, noted the magnitude of the moment for the medical students.
“Both our first-year and second-year medical students celebrated the donning of their white coat in the presence of their loved ones, as a symbol of becoming providers of humane, patient-centered care. It is second only to commencement in the meaningfulness and significance on the road to becoming a physician.”
Kendall Pilcher, a first-year medical student in the class of 2027, echoed the importance of the day, and her thoughts on what the white coat represents.
“I feel like the white coat represents something that we’ve been working for, for a lot of us, most of our lives. To have it put on is sealing the commitment that you are going to have for the rest of your life to be in service of others, and for others.”