Long White Coat Ceremony Celebrates New Residents

The fourth annual Resident Long White Coat Ceremony — sponsored by the Office of Graduate Medical Education — celebrated a transition for the new residents, as they donned their long white coats to replace the short white coats they received when they entered medical school.

This year’s class of new residents hail from 23 different countries and range in age from 23 to 46.

Thirty of the new residents who took part in the ceremony graduated from the Jacobs School’s medical education program.

A second white coat ceremony for the fellows and second-year residents who began the following week took place July 2. This group is represented by 17 countries and ranges in age from 25 to 42.

They have worn long white coats already — as residents at other institutions — but not here in Buffalo.  

“Taking this moment together reinforces the importance of beginning residency and fellowship training in Buffalo with a focus on professionalism and humanism,” said Susan M. Orrange, PhD, assistant dean for resident and education services in the Office of Graduate Medical Education.

In all, there are 250 incoming trainees who are new to UB residency or fellowship. The trainee class is made up of 145 men and 105 women.

In addition, there are 24 UB residents entering their fellowship directly from their residency programs and three others who are returning to training from research or other fields.

The event was planned in collaboration with UB’s Richard Sarkin/Emeritus Faculty Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which launched the tradition of holding white coat ceremonies in the 1990s to symbolize that humanism remains at the core of all medical care.

The UB Medical Alumni Association sponsored a reception following the ceremony, adding additional support and welcome from alumni, faculty and the community.

UB is one of only 14 medical residency programs in the country that is home to a residency chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.