Each year at the end of the first week of medical school, M.D. students from across the country are “cloaked” with their first white coats, symbolizing the beginning of their journeys in medicine.
The White Coat Ceremony asks student-physicians to dedicate themselves to the care of their patients and the obligations inherent in the practice of medicine: to be an excellent scientist, to be compassionate, and to lead upright and honorable lives.
On Friday, Aug. 11, 150 Oregon Health & Science University medical students made that commitment and donned their white coats for the first time.
Led by Robert Cloutier, M.D., professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics and assistant dean for undergraduate medical education admissions in the OHSU School of Medicine, students from the OHSU M.D. Class of 2027 processed across a stage, white coats draped smartly across their arms.
Of the 150 M.D. students who are starting this fall:
- 81% are Oregonians or of Oregon heritage
- 57% identify as female
- 43% come from a disadvantaged background
- 55% come from racial or ethnic backgrounds other than white
- 18% come from a rural background
- 23% come from a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in medicine
- Seven have completed military service
Family, friends, faculty and staff members — in person and via livestream — cheered and waved from the audience, phones held high to catch the special moment.
View a recording of the event.
“We are so glad to be here today to celebrate you as you receive your white coats and are formally welcomed into the profession of medicine,” said Tracy Bumsted, M.D., M.P.H., professor of pediatrics and associate dean for undergraduate medical education in the School of Medicine.
She asked that the students turn and applaud their loved ones in the audience. “None of us who have ever taken this journey in medicine have done so without the support, guidance and wisdom of others. The transformation from student to physician truly does take a village.”
OHSU School of Medicine Dean David Jacoby, M.D., took a moment to frame the current moment in time in academic medicine in America and at OHSU that students are entering, and will soon help to shape.
He noted that OHSU was a principal player in lifting Oregon out of the pandemic, that faculty, staff and students — across research, education and patient care missions — pulled together and truly became a beacon for Oregon, contributing to the development of the vaccines and then putting shots in the arms of more than 1 million Oregonians across the state.
“Throughout the pandemic, we led with health and we led with science,” Jacoby said. “OHSU stands for Oregon Health and Science University. That clarity of purpose continues.”
Jacoby noted that everything that physicians do to care for patients is based on science and aimed at maintaining or restoring health. This includes cutting-edge clinical techniques and treatments for myriad health conditions, as well as the full spectrum of reproductive health care — including abortion — and gender-affirming care.
“We are not only centering, we are advancing health for all people,” Jacoby said. “We are not going backward. As a society, we are all better when we are all well.”
Sandra Iragorri, M.D., professor of pediatrics in the OHSU School of Medicine, gave this year’s J.S. Reinschmidt Lecture. The J.S. Reinschmidt Endowment Fund for Excellence in Medical Education supports the lectureship and the advancement of medical education at OHSU.
Iragorri is a French Columbian national whose training and experience spans several continents. She’s been practicing pediatric nephrology in OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital since 2010. Throughout her career, Iragorri has been a passionate educator, guest lecturer, role model to many and recipient of several teaching awards.
“By trusting your educated intuition, remaining lifelong enthusiastic learners, staying true to who you are and keeping an open mind, you will achieve your dreams and our common goals, as well as fulfilling society’s expectations,” she told the students. “Today, and always, you belong in the Class of 2027.”
Then, each student was called to the stage and Rebecca Cantone, M.D., associate professor of family medicine and assistant dean for undergraduate medical education student affairs in the OHSU School of Medicine, helped them put on their white coats, followed by welcoming handshakes from officials onstage.
Friends and families cheered.
OHSU’s School of Medicine Alumni Council welcomed the class with their signature white coat cookies and a moving video message.
“Stay curious,” advised Karen Gunson, M.D, president of the OHSU School of Medicine Alumni Association Council and member of OHSU’s M.D. Class of 1981. “Being curious about your patients means you are paying attention and focusing on them in the moment. Curiosity will lead you to continue to learn throughout your whole medical career — an absolute necessity in this era of fast-moving discoveries. And curiosity will lead you in directions that you’ve never thought of on this day, when you’ve received your white coat.”
Lauren Sigman, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine, led the Oath of Geneva.
“We are not perfect, we are human, but we strive to embody the best of humanity, harnessing it for healing and for comfort,” Sigman said. “This profession is, at its core, service to patients.”
In closing, Bumsted said, “Learn all you can, serve others first, know your limits. Make the most of each day. Carpe diem!”
Meet members of the M.D. Class of 2027
Anna Rozzi
After a winding journey to medical school, Anna Rozzi was ready and energized when she officially became an OHSU M.D. student this week.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said the 40-year-old Portland woman. “But, like for so many people, the path seemed inaccessible. I’m humbled by and grateful for this opportunity.”
Growing up in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, Rozzi’s family was burdened with poverty, addiction and recurrent tragedy. Due in large part to her parents’ strength and encouragement, she became the first woman in her family to graduate college, earning two bachelor’s degrees — one in English and another in interdisciplinary Nature and Culture — from the University of California Davis in 2005.
Miguel Mendez
As the son of indigenous Mexican immigrants, 30-year-old Miguel Mendez of Beaverton sees medicine as a path to help historically marginalized communities like his own.
While growing up in Los Angeles, Mendez’s parents worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. In his youth, between helping his dad wash cars for a living, Mendez eagerly devoured books; from astronomy to physiology, learning how the world works fascinated him. Pulled to help others, young Mendez also volunteered by tutoring children experiencing homelessness and comforting hospice patients.
But it wasn’t until he visited the Mexican state of Oaxaca, his parents’ ancestral home, as a college student that he developed an unexpected interest in medicine. While immersed in a study abroad health internship, he helped facilitate health care access for indigenous communities. After earning a bachelor’s degree in human biology from University of California, Santa Cruz in 2016, he completed a post-baccalaureate, pre-med program at University of California, Davis. In 2017, Mendez and his wife relocated to Oregon with their eyes set on the OHSU School of Medicine.