Beech Tree News Network

University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine formally welcomed members of the Class of 2016 during a traditional White Coat Ceremony on Saturday, September 15, at 2 p.m. at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville. Ashton Fields and Josh Tyree, both of Butler County, received their white coats.  Ashton is the daughter of Greg and Michelle Fields. Josh is the son of Ronnie and Linda Tyree.

White coat ceremonies are rites of passage for beginning medical students. White represents purity, healing and the professional ideals of the medical profession that focus on compassionate caregiving. The long white coat is the quintessential symbol of a physician and conveys to patients and the public the wearer’s identity as a physician. The short white coat indicates the wearer’s status as medical student or student-doctor.

The white coat ceremony tradition was begun by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1993 to promote humanism in medicine. The Gold Foundation provides a gold pin to KYCOM student-doctors to wear on their white coats to symbolize commitment to providing compassionate and competent patient care.

In the presence of family members, friends and the campus community, students from the Class of 2016 was “coated” by the students from the Class of 2015.

The keynote speaker for the ceremony will be William G. Anderson I, D.O., F.A.C.O.S. Anderson is past president of the American Osteopathic Association, senior advisor to the dean at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and vice president of Academic Affairs, Osteopathic Medical Education, responsible for the development of osteopathic medical education programs for students, interns and residents at hospitals within the Detroit Medical Center.

Following the White Coat Ceremony, a formal ribbon cutting and dedication of “The Coal Building,” the medical school’s new $40 million instructional facility, was held.