Schulich Medicine & Dentistry welcomes 172 first year medical students

Western University welcomes 172 first year medical students to the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry with a White Coat Ceremony on Wednesday, August 29 in Room 145 of the Natural Sciences Building. Students and their families will begin arriving at 9:00 a.m. for registration, with the program running from 10:00 till noon.

Schulich Medicine & Dentistry is committed to becoming a global leader in sustaining health across the lifecycle. This leadership role includes many international health initiatives and partnerships. And while it's a pre-requisite that all of our medical students are Canadian citizens, some members of the Class of 2016 bring valuable international experience to their studies. For instance, Matthew McNiven did an internship in Rwanda last year at the Kigali Health Institute which has close ties to Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. Tinya Lin has a Masters Degree in International Health Policy from the London School of Economics, and Paul Atkins spent last year on an exchange in Germany studying life sciences and international studies.

"These students are entering medical school at a time when, through the internet and social media, the world seems a much smaller place," says Dr. Michael Strong, Dean of Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. "We recognize and embrace our School's duty to improve health, not only in Southwestern Ontario, but globally. And so our challenge to these new medical students is to take advantage of international opportunities, and to become, not only good physicians, but also socially-responsible leaders."

During the White Coat Ceremony, medical students will be presented with a laboratory coat. In donning it, they symbolically agree to the professional, social and ethical responsibilities of becoming a physician. They will also recite the Hippocratic Oath.

Thirty-eight of the 172 students are enrolled in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry-Windsor Program, and there will be an additional "meet and greet" for them at the University of Windsor in the Medical Education Building on Tuesday, September 4^th at 6:00 p.m.

First year dental students will have their welcoming ceremony on Friday, August 31, in the Davenport Theatre at Talbot College with the program starting at 10:30 a.m.