White Coat Ceremony celebrates new SIU medical students

A White Coat Ceremony at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine on August 15 celebrated students beginning their pursuit of medical degrees to care for the people of Illinois and beyond.

During the event in Carbondale’s Shryock Auditorium, 80 students received white coats, marking the start of their journeys to becoming physicians. Members of the Class of 2029 will spend their first year of training on the Carbondale campus and years two through four in Springfield. Eight students in the medical school’s Lincoln Scholars program will receive the majority of their training downstate.

Haneme Idrizi, MD, associate dean for student affairs, and Chris McDowell, MD, executive associate dean, welcomed the students. Amanda Mulch, MD, assistant dean for student affairs, read the student names as McDowell and Richard Austin, MD, president of the school’s Alumni Board of Governors, presented them with white coats on behalf of the Alumni Society.

Debra Klamen, MD, MHPE, senior associate dean for education and curriculum and chair of the Department of Medical Education at SIU Medicine, led them in reading the Physician’s Pledge.

SIU pediatric hospitalist Kate Siebenaler, MD, offered words of encouragement in the keynote address, telling the students to trust that they belonged in the room. 

“You are here on purpose. You worked hard and you have a place here... And when things get hard, remember you are not alone—come find us. We want to help you,” she said.

She also suggested a way to embrace unfamiliar territory. “When you don’t know something, remember to add ‘yet.’ You don’t know it yet—this is your opportunity to learn and grow,” Siebenaler said.

The White Coat Ceremony is designed to establish a commitment to professionalism and empathy in medicine. It is held at most U.S. medical schools each fall.

Established in 1970, SIU School of Medicine is based in Springfield and Carbondale and focuses on the health care needs of downstate Illinois. It educates physicians to practice in Illinois communities and has graduated 3,312 physicians since the first class in 1975.

LIST OF STUDENTS  PHOTO GALLERY