Jennifer R. Enman , a first-year student at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, recently participated in the college’s annual White Coat Ceremony, formally recognizing the transition students make from lay persons to those assuming the responsibility of physicians. Eman is the daughter of Karen and Michael Enman of Fort Fairfield The evening ceremony highlights included presentation of the white coats by members of the physician community; remarks by distinguished guests as well as brief remarks by second-year medical student Tyler Raymond, president of the Student Osteopathic Medical Association(SOMA). The reading of the Osteopathic Oath was offered by Polly Leonard, D.O. ’95 UNECOM, president of the UNECOM Alumni Board.
A reception honoring the Class of 2012 followed.
The White Coat Ceremony was an idea conceived by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to create a psychological contract for professionalism and empathy in medicine. The First White Coat Ceremony took place in 1993 at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Since then, more than 100 other medical schools in the U.S. and abroad have initiated a similar ceremony.
