Grace Kim, ’11, Elizabeth Le, ’11, Brian Shiu, ’11, Kyle Hatten, ’10, and Peter MacArthur, ’11 at the appreciation event for phonothon volunteers

Phonothon Volunteers Treated to Reception
The Medical Alumni Association expressed its gratitude to more than 100 student phonothon volunteers by treating them to a reception at Mother’s Grille in Federal Hill. The event was held on November 10. Students and alumni raised $125,000 in seven nights of calling during the month of October.

Class of 2013 Receives White Coats
The white coat ceremony, a tradition started at Maryland in 1997, was held on November 5 for the first-year students from the class of 2013. The coats are distributed by faculty to welcome their new colleagues to the profession of medicine.

Kevin Affum signs the honor registry with associate dean Milford M. Foxwell Jr., ’80, supervising.

“The white coat ceremony today symbolizes the beginning of your privileged journey into medicine,” said SOM dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA. “It is a lifelong journey of learning and healing. I charge you today to do the following: Walk well on this time-honored path. The white coat is just a symbol. What is most important is who is wearing it.”

After being coated, students recited an oath acknowledging their acceptance of the obligations of the medical profession. They also added their signatures to the school’s honor registry, a leather-bound volume signed by students in their first year, in which they pledge to maintain integrity throughout their years in medicine.

“It’s an accomplishment,” says Brandon Haugh of his new white coat. “Completing the course structure and development was our first milestone of medical school, and now it feels like we belong here.”

For the past several years, the white coat ceremony has been incorporated into a much larger program entitled “Medical Family Day,” which encourages participation of family as well.