16-03-2025
West Virginia University holds White Coat Ceremony for medical students
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — On Saturday West Virginia University held a White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2027.
The ceremony marks the transition of students learning mostly in the classroom to learning in clinical care. More than 100 second year students got their white coats, a symbol of the medical profession's ideals of professionalism and compassion.
12 News spoke to Phillip Englund, a student from Winfield West Virginia studying at WVU, about what he expects after receiving his white coat.
'I know there will be challenges of just learning how a hospital operates but I think it's going to be really exciting and a neat experience to start using all the stuff we learned over the past few years and seeing it, applying it, and helping the state of West Virginia.'
Cheat Lake Volunteer Fire Department demonstrates life saving equipment
12 News also spoke with Dr. Clay Marsh, the Dean of the School of Medicine. When asked about the future of the medical field that these students will face, he invoked Dr. Francis Peabody, a celebrated teacher at the Harvard Medical School known for his work on polio and typhoid fever, saying, ''The secret in the care of the patient is caring for the patient,'' Dr. Marsh said. 'The details will change but those foundational elements of professionalism and humanism never will.'
Along with studying, WVU ask that their medical students do 600 hours of volunteering to show their commitment to service. Furthermore, they had to get into medical school in the first place. WVU said this year 6,300 people applied to their medical school for 115 spots.
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