51Ʒ the Ceremony
The 51ƷCollege of Osteopathic Medicine (51ƷCOM) White Coat Ceremony is a symbolic rite of passage for our first-year students.
At the ceremony, students are “coated” onstage by a physician to formally mark their commitment to the osteopathic profession and their transition to becoming student doctors.
Unable to attend but would like to watch?
Directions and Parking
Merrill Auditorium is located at 20 Myrtle Street, Portland, Maine 04101.
The entrance to Merrill Auditorium is about a quarter of the way down Myrtle Street, just before City Hall. It is a one-way street off of Congress Street and may be used to drop off family members closer to the entrance.
The easiest place to park is Top of the Old Port, a large, 500-car surface lot located between Congress Street and Cumberland Ave. A $10 event-parking fee will be charged, to be paid in cash upon entering the lot.
Origins of the White Coat Ceremony
The White Coat Ceremony was an idea conceived by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to create a psychological contract for professionalism and empathy in medicine. The first White Coat Ceremony took place in 1993 at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Since then, 97% of medical schools in the U.S. and abroad have initiated a similar ceremony.
At the 51ƷCollege of Osteopathic Medicine ceremony, students are welcomed by the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean, plus other respected leaders who represent the value system of our College and the osteopathic profession. The presentation of the white coat — the symbolic mantle of the medical profession — by physicians to the first-year students, underscores their bonds as future professional colleagues.