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A promise to future patients

In rite of passage, first-year medical students receive their white coats and, together, recite a shared oath

by Maggie Singleton•October 7, 2025

Matt Miller

First-year student Sameeran Das waves to the crowd of fellow students, coaches, faculty members and loved ones after receiving his white coat.

Amid smiles, cheers and bursts of applause, friends and families gathered at the Eric P. Newman Education Center on the Medical Campus Friday, Oct. 3, to watch first-year medical students at WashU Medicine put on their white coats for the first time. The crisp new coats signify the beginning of the students’ journey into the medical profession and the profound responsibility they have as future physicians.

“Today’s ceremony is not just about donning a symbolic garment,” said Tammy L. Sonn, MD, associate dean for student affairs and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, in her welcoming remarks. “It’s about acknowledging the transformative journey you are about to embark upon.”

The 123 students in this year’s entering class earned undergraduate degrees from 71 different colleges and universities and hail from 30 states and eight countries. Their white coats also reflect the trust patients and society place in physicians — a trust they will learn to honor through compassion, integrity and skill. At WashU Medicine, students train alongside many of the nation’s leading physicians and physician-scientists, supported by faculty educators dedicated to preparing them to become the next generation of leaders in medicine.

Sara Moser

Click the image to view Class of 2025 student statistics in full size.

While the ceremony marks a beginning for so many, this year’s event was also especially significant for David H. Perlmutter, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and the George and Carol Bauer Dean of WashU Medicine. The White Coat Ceremony is among his favorite medical student milestones, and this one will be his last as dean before concluding his deanship in June 2026.

“Each of you will do something different with the white coats you receive today, and each of you will have your own unique story of which this ceremony here, and your time with us in medical school, is only the very first chapter,” Perlmutter said. “But what you share — and what you will share forever — is what brought you here to this place and to this moment, and it is that uniquely human impulse to care.

“All the incredible innovation we’ve witnessed and benefited from in medicine and medical science over the last 10, 20, 100 years was made possible because there were people who cared enough to make the art and science of healing others their life’s work. We must never forget that attention to detail, curiosity and empathy are first and foremost powerful human capabilities and that life experiences and what we learn from them are essential to our expertise.”

That focus on care was woven into every word of the student oath.

Dozens of first-year students collaborated to create a personalized oath, which the class recited together during the ceremony. They promised to earn and honor their patients’ trust, act as agents of change, use the knowledge and power entrusted to them to advocate for vulnerable individuals, and — recognizing their own limitations — act within their capabilities.

Matt Miller

First-year students in their new white coats read the personalized oath together.

During his keynote address, Amjad Musleh, MD, a WashU Medicine associate professor of anesthesiology and of emergency medicine and a leader of the Gateway Coaching program, reinforced the significance of the oath. “While the white coat you received today is yours to keep, the oath you take is for all of us in this room and everyone whose life you will touch. Success is not measured by the coat you wear or the accolades you receive, but by the lives you touch while wearing it.”

First-year students Kaie Hall and Sara Albert were reflective about the impact they can have as future physicians.

While an undergraduate, Hall spent two summers at WashU Medicine and worked with Juliane Bubeck-Wardenburg, MD, PhD, the Donald B Strominger Professor of Pediatrics. Not only did the experiences solidify his choice to learn and train at WashU Medicine, they also left a lasting impression on the kind of physician-scientist he wants to be.

“I learned firsthand from Dr. Bubeck-Wardenburg how it’s not just about treating patients,” Hall said. “It’s about treating the patient and the community around them as well.” He intends to carry that perspective into his MD/PhD studies and beyond.

After a moving experience with a patient during her time as a hospice volunteer, Albert hopes to blend her undergraduate study of neuroscience and linguistics with her lifelong love of singing as she cares for others. “This ceremony marks a new chapter in our lives,” she said. “As white coats are placed around our shoulders, we, too, embrace the compassion and our new responsibilities as physicians-in-training. I’m excited to see how each of us will use our white coats to effect positive change.”

Photos by Matt Miller. Click to enlarge.