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Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

M.D. Program

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
White Coat Ceremony

The School of Medicine and the Colleges Advisory Program actively support students in their transformational journey to becoming physicians, and the White Coat Ceremony marks an important milestone on this path. The presentation and cloaking of the white coat – a symbolic mantle of the medical profession – confers a commitment to the cherished values of being a physician: humanism, compassion, altruism, leadership, excellence and devotion to the well-being of others.

Class of 2028 White Coat Ceremony

April 4, 2025, 3pm

Watch the Recording

For captioning in other languages, access this link in addition to link above. Select "languages" from the drop down.

Guest Speaker Information

Turner Auditorium at 720 Rutland Avenue
Parking is available in the Washington Street Garage
Map of Campus

Guest seating is unassigned in Turner. If you are unable to navigate stairs, use a special entrance on the Turner Concourse level--to the left of the stage once inside the auditorium. There is a mechanical lift device at this entrance to accommodate wheelchairs. Please reach out to Susan Pulley sshultz@jhmi.edu if you or your guest will need assistance.

Class of 2027 White Coat Ceremony

Students celebrate the ceremony
Students celebrate the ceremony
Student is coated
Students celebrate the ceremony
Students and staff celebrate the ceremony
Dr. DeWeese congratulates a student

Past Ceremonies

History of the White Coat

Today, the long white laboratory coat is an international symbol of the biomedical community. A century ago, the medical service changed drastically when leading physicians were expected to be both researchers and scientists. White coats were adopted to emphasize cleanliness and professionalism. The white coat was first worn by a new generation of physician-scientists.

The scientific revolution in medicine was a founding principle of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. William Welch, the first Chief of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, insisted that his trainees follow the scientific method in their research. At the same time, Sir William Osler, the first Physician-in-Chief, emphasized cleanliness in his historic textbook The Principles and Practice of Medicine.

A collection of white coats on hangers.

Featured Guest SpeakerPaul B. Spiegel, MD MPH

Dr. Spiegel, a Canadian physician and epidemiologist, is one of the few humanitarians in the world that both responds to and researches humanitarian emergencies and migration. He is the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health and distinguished professor of the practice in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Before Johns Hopkins, Dr. Spiegel was deputy director of program management & support and chief of public health at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He previously worked as a medical epidemiologist in the International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as a medical coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde in refugee emergencies.

Dr. Spiegel has published over 230 publications on humanitarian health, migration and human rights. He is currently chair of the CHH-Lancet Commission on Health Conflict and Forced Displacement, co-chair of Lancet Migration, and co-technical director of EQUAL.

Dr. Spiegel’s extensive experience in leading humanitarian responses in the United Nations and with non-governmental organizations combined with his academic work has made him a global leader in bridging operations and academia in humanitarian health.

Dr. Speigel