VP&S Class of 2022: 25-Year Anniversary of White Coat Ceremony

Columbia welcomed 140 new students in the Class of 2022 at the White Coat Ceremony in August. 

The ceremony marked its 25-year anniversary this year. More than 4,000 Columbia medical students have been through the White Coat Ceremony since it was founded at VP&S in 1993 by the late Arnold P. Gold, MD, professor of clinical neurology and clinical pediatrics, to reinforce a commitment to humanistic practice. He also founded the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which has developed programs to support the education and training of humanistic health care professionals.

The foundation says a White Coat Ceremony or similar ritual takes place today at 99 percent of U.S. medical schools accredited by the Association of American Medical Colleges, medical schools in 19 other countries, more than 310 schools of nursing, and several physician assistant programs.

• About the Class of 2022:
  • 140 Students
    • 114 MD students
    • 11 MD/PhD students
    • 10 Columbia-Bassett students 
    • 3 PhD-to-MD students
    • 2 oral and maxillofacial surgery students
    • 63 women/77 men
    • Age range: 21-36
    • 27 underrepresented minorities (19%)
    • 7,537 total applications through AMCAS
    • 6,796 secondary applications
    • 5,652 applications for traditional MD program (including 1,043 from underrepresented minorities)
    • 534 applications for Columbia-Bassett track
    • 553 applications for MD/PhD program
    • 57 applications for PhD-to-MD program
    • 1,006 interviews conducted (including 176 with underrepresented minorities, 48 for the Columbia-Bassett track, 84 for the MD/PhD program, 7 for the three-year PhD-to-MD program, and 17 for the oral and maxillofacial  surgery program
    • 65 colleges represented
    • 28 states represented
    • 10 foreign countries represented (Australia, Belarus, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, Great Britain, India, Italy, and Japan)