White Coat Ceremony September 2011, Live!
Tomorrow (Friday, September 23, 2011) will be an important day for many new students here at AUC. The White Coat Ceremony is one of the two most important ceremonies in the medical student’s educational career, the other being Graduation. Performed in most medical, nursing, and PA schools around the US, it is a beautiful ceremony where the students are given their first White Coat, a cloak of trust, professionalism, and compassion. Putting on the white coat for the first time symbolizes the students’ official welcome into the greater medical community of white-coat wearers.
At AUC, the White Coat Ceremony is hosted by the Student Government Association to welcome the new incoming class and to honor the new inductees into the Alpha Omega Phi Honor Society.
This year, due to the threat of Tropical Storm Maria two weeks ago, the White Coat Ceremony had to be post-poned. But after finishing first block of med school, students can finally be formally and symbolically welcomed into the world of medicine. This semester’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Shupe, Professor of Microbiology. This semester’s Honor Society speaker will be Prasanth Ravipati. For all those family and friends (or anyone else interested) who are not able to make it down to St. Maarten to see your loved ones walk the stage at the White Coat Ceremony tomorrow, you can watch it here webcasted live, or at this link.
The live broadcasting will begin at 5:30pm Atlantic Time, September 23, 2011! So that is:
- 5:30pm Eastern Time
- 4:30pm Central Time
- 3:30pm Mountain Time
- 2:30pm Pacific Time
Hosted by the Student Government Association, the ceremony will be held in Lecture Hall 1 at 5:30pm. A reception will immediately follow at 8pm at the Porto Cupecoy Courtyard, with catering from Sopranos and live music from the pianist at Sopranos. Phi Chi and other student organizations will provide rides to Porto Cupecoy from 8pm to 8:30pm, as well as rides back to campus from 10pm to 10:30pm for those who need rides.
Congratulations to the new inductees into the Alpha Omega Phi Honor Society and to the new September 2011 class!
Live streaming by Ustream
when is the white coat ceremony? after which year?
Hi Ruth, the white coat ceremony is usually the first Friday of the beginning of the first semester.
hi.. thank you for replying my first question.. i have a bunch of other questions, i hope you won’t bother answer… i’m 19 years old, from Haiti,i’m graduating my bachelor of science in biology this march in the Philippines, and i’ll be doing a master in public health before applying for medical school. how much chance do i have to get accepted? i’m not an honor student,but i have good grade. do i have to take MCAT? or it’s optional? another worry i have: i’m a Seventh day Adventist, do they have classes on Saturdays? cause on Sabbath i have to go to church… last question… do you have any idea of how to get a scholarship? AUC would be amazing for me,Kreyol island, rotations in usa.. it’s wonderful..
Hi Ruth,
I’m glad you are pursuing your dream in medicine. So cool that you went to school in the Philippines. How did that happen? It is difficult to say what your chances are without an actual GPA and MCAT score. AUC requires one to have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university. Most students have graduated from US or Canadian schools. While AUC looks at the whole application, I’d highly recommend having an MCAT score of at least 25, and GPA of at lease 3.24 to stay competitive, as those are the average scores of students who matriculate. MCATs are required. There are no classes on Saturday, and there are certainly other students who are also Seventh Day Adventists. There is also a SDA church on the island. Best of luck!
Benji
THIS IS AN AMAZING BLOG, if at least one student from each med school could do that, it would make it waaaaaaaaay easier for the future med students… WISH you all the best and SUCCESS for your residency…
Thanks Ruth!
Hi Benji,
I just got accepted to AUC for the Jan 2015 semester and I was wondering about how the White Coat Ceremony works with friends/family attending. Do most students have family/friends attend the White Coat Ceremony? How long do friends/family stay?
Thanks!
Congratulations Mai! Not sure how many percent of students have family attend their white coat ceremony, but a good bit do for sure. My family came and they stayed for four days. People’s families stay for varying lengths of time.