Class of 2022 medical students to don white coats on Aug. 10

Seventy-seven first-year medical students, members of the Doctor of Medicine (MD) Class of 2022, begin their journey next week to become physicians at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences (UND SMHS).

Medical students’ first week is dedicated to orientation, including an introduction to UND’s nationally recognized, four-year, patient-centered curriculum where biomedical and clinical sciences are taught in the context of an interdisciplinary educational setting. Special emphasis is placed on students’ new roles and expectations of them as health professionals.

Orientation concludes with the White Coat Ceremony at 5 p.m. on Friday, August 10 in the Alerus Center Ballroom, 1200 S. 42nd St., in Grand Forks where students receive their first white coats, the physician’s traditional garment, which have been donated by the North Dakota Medical Association. Students will also recite the Oath of Hippocrates, a vow physicians have been taking for more than 2,000 years to uphold basic ethical principles of the medical profession. Each student will receive a lapel pin, donated by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, engraved with the phrase “Humanism in Medicine.”

Susan Zelewski, MD, assistant dean of the UND SMHS Northeast Campus in Grand Forks and a pediatrician with Altru Health System, will give the ceremony’s Dr. David and Lola Rognlie Monson Lecture. Dr. Zelewski’s presentation is entitled “More than just pockets.”

Dr. Susan Zelewski

“I am excited to be able to participate in this important day with our incoming medical students,” Dr. Zelewski noted. “This is a great opportunity for students to be able to start their clinical journey focusing on what the white coat truly means.”

After the ceremony, the School will host an indoor picnic for students, family, and friends at the Alerus Center.

The 38 women and 39 men, ranging in age from 21 to 37 years, come to medical school with experience in an array of fields and academic degrees, including: anthropology, athletic training, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, criminal justice, electrical engineering, forensics, genetics, kinesiology, microbiology, music, neuroscience, nursing, psychology, radiologic-tech, and zoology. Students’ undergraduate minors include Latin, agribusiness, marine biology, Spanish, German, botany, crop science, art, Scandinavian studies, math, wellness, and health care informatics.

Many students already hold advanced degrees, including master’s degrees in biomedical sciences, music, public health, nursing, and anatomical & translational sciences. Four students already hold doctoral degrees.

“The donning of the white coat symbolizes the very special social contract that exists between society and health care providers,” commented Joshua Wynne, MD, MBA, MPH, vice president for health affairs at UND and dean of the UND SMHS. “Although much has changed in medicine since I was a medical student years ago, one thing that has not changed—thankfully—is that sacred relationship between doctor and patient. The white coat remains a tangible symbol of the trust that patients bestow in their doctors. And the White Coat Ceremony is a reminder that that trust must be earned—and re-earned—each and every day by every health care provider.”

MD Class of 2022 Names and Hometowns: