{"id":135215,"date":"2026-09-08T07:19:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=135215"},"modified":"2026-09-08T07:19:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:19:16","slug":"white-coat-ceremony-a-hit-at-the-orpheum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/09\/08\/white-coat-ceremony-a-hit-at-the-orpheum\/","title":{"rendered":"White Coat ceremony a hit at the Orpheum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Once again there was hustle and bustle as an eager crowd waited to be let into Omaha\u2019s venerable Orpheum Theater. Backstage, key players readied, checking marks. Excitement in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening night?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a way, yes. Another White Coat Ceremony for the UNMC College of Medicine. The first step in the medical careers of 153 new students matriculating this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White Coat Ceremony is a tradition and program of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to humanism in health care. The UNMC College of Medicine Alumni Council, those who know best the responsibility to come, sponsored the coats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See photos from the event<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"CoatCOM\"
Armando De Alba, MD, helps a new medical student with his coat.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These coats are \u201cblank as a sheet of paper, waiting for you to write your story,\u201d said Sarah Chandler, M4, president of UNMC\u2019s chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She was one of a handful of speakers to address the incoming class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These coats, \u201cshould not be donned casually,\u201d Dean Bradley Britigan, MD, told the students about to wear them for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coats represent the trusted relationships physicians hold with their patients, Dr. Britigan said. The human aspect of medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Britigan noted that he is likely participating in his final White Coat Ceremony as dean. Dr. Britigan announced in July that he intends to step down from the role and expects his successor to be in place by the time next year\u2019s class arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is his tradition, Dr. Britigan gave the audience and incoming class a short lesson on the history of the UNMC College of Medicine and its forebears. In doing so, Dr. Britigan said, he\u2019d picked up the mantle formerly carried by Robert Wigton, MD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incoming class includes 10 who serve as the inaugural cohort at the UNMC College of Medicine\u2019s regional campus at Kearney. They had spent two weeks together preparing to enter medical school and already had become a tight group, Kaleb Burr said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith only 10 of us in Kearney we\u2019ve got to rely on each other,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard, but we\u2019ve done hard things,\u201d to get into medical school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hard things, and the triumph over them, will continue, speakers told the incoming class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frank Hawkins, MD, president of the UNMC College of Medicine Alumni Council, class of 1988, said he was so nervous on his first day of medical school, he found he\u2019d packed two left shoes for his lunchtime run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan Chapman, M4, class of 2027 alumni relations chair, turned to address the incoming students directly. He said they would cherish moments with people. Holding pediatric patients. Hearing the first breaths of a patient coming off a ventilator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are an amalgamation,\u201d Chandler told them, one that will become \u201cthe best possible versions of yourselves.\u201d Thanks to those who have prepared them for this moment, he said, and the teammates, mentors and patients they will yet meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all starts on this day, by donning these white coats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations,\u201d Chandler said, \u201cand welcome to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"OathCOM\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Incoming medical students recite the Student Oath at the 2026 UNMC College of Medicine White Coat Ceremony.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Family, friends and faculty on hand as 153 students officially enter the medical profession. 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