Convocation ceremony marks start of medical education for class of 2023

During the Boonshoft School of Medicine’s Convocation and White Coat Ceremony on July 7, entering students will take an oath of professional medical ethics and receive a white coat personalized with his or her name and the medical school patch.

The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine will welcome 120 students during a special ceremony on Sunday, July 7, formally marking the start of their medical education. The annual Convocation and White Coat Ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at the Schuster Center, 1 West Second Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402.

During the ceremony, students will take their first oath of professional medical ethics, concluding with the words, “I commit myself to a lifelong journey of learning how to cure, relieve and comfort with humility and compassion.” Each student will receive a white coat — a traditional symbol of the medical profession, personalized with her or his name and the medical school patch. Students also will receive a stethoscope, provided through donations from alumni, faculty and friends.

The Convocation and White Coat Ceremony represents an important milestone in each student’s journey to enter the medical profession. It also marks the first time these students will gather as a class and meet the people who will share, during the next four or more years, what may be some of the most memorable and intense experiences of their lives.

The students, who were carefully selected from a group of 6,182 applicants, will begin orientation on Friday, July 5. Classes begin on Thursday, July 11.

The class of 2023 draws from a variety of undergraduate experiences. Members of the class were educated at various universities. In Ohio, some of these include Case Western Reserve University, Miami University, Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton and Wright State University. Members of the class also hail from Duke University, Georgetown University, Howard University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Notre Dame and University of Southern California, among others.

In addition to Ohio, the class of 2023 comes from as far away as California, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Sixty percent of the students are from Ohio, while 40 percent are from out of state.

The members of the class of 2023 have shown a strong commitment to community service. They have volunteered in hospitals and medical centers in addition to serving on medical service trips.

Sixty-four percent are women, while 36 percent are men. Twenty-seven percent are from populations underrepresented in medicine. Seventy percent of the members of the class of 2023 speak several languages, including French, German, Hindi, Nepali, Persian, Spanish and Vietnamese.