The White Coat Ceremony

The White Coat Ceremony is an annual tradition marking the entree of a matriculating class of students into the medical profession. Traditionally during the ceremony, Georgetown University School of Medicine deans and faculty members cloak students in their first white coat as a symbol of the trust being bestowed upon them to carry on the noble tradition of doctoring.

Class of 2027 White Coat Ceremony

The Class of 2027 White Coat Ceremony will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, August 4, 2023, in Gaston Hall, Third Floor of Healy Hall.

Ticketing:

• Each student will receive two guest tickets for the ceremony in Gaston Hall.
• Students in the Class of 2027 do not require a ticket for entry to the Ceremony.
• All guests must be registered through a School of Medicine Guest Registration form. The registration form also contains instructions regarding non-guaranteed lottery ticket requests. Physical tickets (required for entry for guests) will be provided on Day 2 of Orientation. Names will be checked at the door and only registered guests will be permitted to enter.
• A livestream of the ceremony will be broadcast on campus at the School of Medicine for additional guests to attend (no ticket required). We encourage out-of-town guests to join us in this celebration via the livestream on the School of Medicine Facebook page (no account required for viewing).

Family Coater:

• If you have a family member who you would like to coat you, you may arrange to do so. Your family member must be an MD and hold a ticket to the ceremony. At this time, you do not need to inform anyone that you have a coater, but you must use one of your allotted tickets for your coater.

The White Coat

The white coat of the medical student, the resident, or the physician can be many things to the wearer as well as to the beholder.  It lends itself to diverse meanings, interpretations, and functions.  It can be experienced as an almost magical conveyor of status, an index to the wearer’s place in the hierarchy of medicine.  It can serve the utilitarian function of protecting the garments beneath it, while its pockets strain with instruments, pens, and small books. 

Yet, the white coat is, first and foremost, a material symbol of the promise that its wearer has made to each and every patient whom he or she encounters: the promise to heal and to care.  It will be four seemingly long (but actually quite short) years before you will become “full fledged” doctors.  Nonetheless, today, in taking the Hippocratic Oath and thereby promising to heal and to care – and in symbolizing this promise by donning the white coat – you enter the profession of medicine.  

Thank you to our alumni for generously donating the white coats to each incoming class! 

White Coat Ceremony Recordings

Here is the 2017 White Coat Ceremony recording

Here is the 2016 White Coat Ceremony recording