81 New Medical Students Welcomed at White Coat Ceremony

Eighty-one first-year students from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix received the mantle of the medical profession Friday, July 20 when they donned their white coats for the first time during ceremonies at Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix.

The White Coat Ceremony marks the students’ entry into clinical medicine and is a rite of passage in their journey toward a health care career.

Nearly 700 family members and friends cheered as each new medical student put on their crisp white coat.

Guy Reed, MD, MS, Dean and Valley of the Sun Professor of the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix, told students that the white coat “signifies the beginning of a marathon journey of transformation from talented, carefully selected students into exceptional, skilled, highly educated and compassionate physicians who are committed to improving health and to alleviate suffering.”

The college in downtown Phoenix was established as a way to ease the growing shortage of physicians in Arizona. In just 11 years, 433 physicians have graduated.

This year’s class continues a tradition of excellence, as the 81 students were chosen from 6,784 applicants. Seventy-one percent of the Class of 2022 are Arizona residents. Their average overall undergraduate GPA was 3.77, with 20 students graduating from the University of Arizona and 21 graduating from Arizona State University.

Michael Dake, MD, Senior Vice President of University of Arizona Health Sciences, delivered an inspirational keynote address.

“If there is one word of advice I would offer ... it’s courage,” he said. “Be brave, engage when you’re not comfortable, speak out boldly, avoid the safe answer, ask the audacious questions. Because today, the winners are those who ask the deeply probing, relevant and future-focused questions.”

The alumni speaker, Allon Kahn, MD, graduated from the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix in 2013 and is a senior fellow in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

“Attitude is everything,” he said. “It is precisely at the most difficult times that your choice of attitude will distinguish you. Your attitude as a physician will be challenged every single day, I promise you. Medical knowledge and technical skill will come with time and training, but you can master your attitude from day one.”

First-year student Stephanie Christensen said she was feeling “overwhelmed with gratitude for my loved ones, appreciation for the opportunity to be here and humbled by this process.”

A graduate of the University of California San Diego, Christensen said the white coat symbolizes the importance of the relationship between the physician and the patient.

“That’s the most incredible thing about this calling,” she said, “the opportunity you have to make a difference in someone’s life and the responsibility and privilege that goes along with that.”

Tina Samsamshariat said putting on her white coat for the first time was humbling.

“It’s a long journey with many ups and downs, and to finally be surrounded by people who are going through it and who are going to support you – your classmates, faculty, family, and everyone – it’s really exciting,” she said.

Samsamshariat, who graduated from the University of California Los Angeles, said she applied to the College of Medicine – Phoenix because of the unique atmosphere – the community, the culture, the curriculum. “They really put their students first. You don’t feel like another number. This doesn’t exist anywhere else that I experienced.”

The White Coat Ceremony was initiated in 1993 at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The widespread adoption of the event, currently practiced by 90 percent of medical schools, is endorsed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Beginning in 2007, the College of Medicine – Phoenix began holding the ceremony at the conclusion of first-year students’ first academic block, Introduction to Medicine.

In addition to their white coats, which were donated by 100 sponsors, students received a 3M Littmann Cardiology III Stethoscope from Banner University Medicine, the textbook “The Patient History: An Evidence-Based Approach to Differential Diagnosis” from District Medical Group at Maricopa Integrated Health System, and a Keeping Healthcare Human lapel pin from The Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

Videos, Photos and More

• Class of 2022 White Coat Ceremony (full ceremony).
• Class of 2022 White Coat Ceremony Highlights.
• Photos from the event.
• Class of 2022 Student Profiles.