White coat ceremony set for Friday, Aug. 11 Sixty-two new freshman medical students, members of the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) class of 2010, begin their medical education this week at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. They range in age from 21 to 42 years, with the average age being 24 years. Half of the class members are women. The students have degrees in a variety of disciplines including biology, chemistry, anthropology, engineering and global studies. Medical students’ first week is dedicated to orientation, which includes an introduction to the four-year, patient-centered-learning curriculum. Special emphasis is placed on the students’ new roles as health care professionals and expectations of them as professionals. The week will conclude with the M.D. Class of 2010 White Coat Ceremony. During the ceremony, set for Friday, Aug. 11, at 4 p.m. in the Reed T. Keller Auditorium at the UND medical school, students will be “cloaked” in white coats, the traditional garment of the physician, which have been donated by the North Dakota Medical Association. They will also recite the Oath of Hippocrates, an ancient vow to uphold basic professional principles. Robert Beattie, professor and chair of the Family and Community Medicine, will present the keynote address to the students, and their families, friends, and faculty and staff members. Each student will also receive the book, “On Doctoring,” edited by Drs. Richard Reynolds and John Stone and donated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a pin engraved with the words, “Humanism in Medicine,” from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. -- Amanda Scurry, public information specialist, UND SMHS, ascurry@medicine.nodak.edu, 701-777-0871