White Coat Ceremony marks transition for Class of 2024

The Class of 2024 assembles at the Mitchell Center for the White Coat Ceremony.

Members of the Class of 2024 at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama were cloaked with white coats in a ceremony on Thursday, June 16, marking the transition into their clinical training.

During the ceremony, 74 third-year medical students took the Medical Student Oath, a promise to uphold the human aspects of medicine such as sensitivity, compassion and respect for patients. They were led by Chris Semple, M.D., president of the USA Medical Alumni Association, which provides the white coats.

Class President Carey P. Johnson addresses his classmates.

Carey P. Johnson, class president, addressed his fellow students. “With all the exams, the quizzes, the interviews and the caffeine-induced migraines, I thought, ‘Why would somebody continue down the path to do this?’ One word came to mind: passion,” said Johnson, who would be helped into his white coat by his wife, Angela Mosley-Johnson, M.D., an OB-GYN resident at USA Health.

“As I stand up here and look out at you, Class of 2024, I know that you are capable. You answered the call, and you endured,” he said.

Phillip K. Henderson, D.O., assistant professor of internal medicine and assistant professor of surgery at the Whiddon College of Medicine, delivered the keynote address.

Henderson urged the students to learn from humiliation, bad decisions and human tragedy, and to become an advocate for their patients. “I don’t care if you’re a third-year medical student or a third-year professor, being an advocate for your patients – there’s no better honor that you could ever have,” he said. 

During the ceremony, senior medical students, residents and faculty were inducted into the USA Chapter of the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society (GHHS), a national society that celebrates compassionate, patient-centered care. They also received GHHS pins.

Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society
inductees receive pins.

The inductees included:

• Kasey Andrews, student
• Donavon Dahmer, student
• Baylee Edwards, student
• Sarah Fillingim, student
• Mengjie Hu, student
• Natalie Kidd, student
• Ashley Nguyen, student
• Hailey Selikoff, student
• Mary Vansant, student
• Nicholas Viyuoh, student
• Rennan Zaharias, student
• Elizabeth Minto, M.D., assistant professor, department of neurology
• Justin Grimes, M.D., resident, department of surgery
• Sana Ozair, M.D., resident, department of internal medicine
• Macy Vickers, M.D., resident, department of obstetrics and gynecology

View more photos from the ceremony on Flickr.