The Wake Forest University School of Medicine Department of PA Studies hosted its annual White Coat Ceremony on June 21. As 79 members of the Class of 2025 approached the front of Wait Chapel to accept their white coats, the words of PA Studies Medical Director Dr. K. Patrick Ober, MD, were still fresh in their minds.
In an address that included poetry, anecdotes and quotes from Winnie the Pooh, Dr. Ober helped students – as well as the family and friends who had gathered to celebrate them – understand the responsibility that comes with the white coat. As they take the next step in their journeys, the students carry with them the trust and expectations of their future patients and the legacy of those who wore the coat before them.
“When you walk into a room with your white coat, you are given all sorts of respect,” Ober said. “But let me tell you a secret, you don’t deserve any of that. Who deserves it are the generations of practitioners who preceded us, who did the right thing when they could and cared about their patients. They actually made the coat vibrate with meaning and substance.”
Wake PA’s White Coat Ceremony marks the end of students’ didactic year, and the beginning of their clinical year. In addition to providing a moment to celebrate, the ceremony gives students and opportunity to reflect on their growth and development.
“I feel like I am a completely different person than I was last year,” Maggie Gebauer said. “I’m just really proud of myself and all of my classmates for what we've done over the past year and what we get to do over the next year.”
Watch the livestream of the ceremony on YouTube.
