{"id":153461,"date":"2019-08-23T17:19:37","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T21:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=153461"},"modified":"2019-08-26T11:22:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T15:22:18","slug":"164-new-white-coats-issued-uconn-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2019\/08\/164-new-white-coats-issued-uconn-health\/","title":{"rendered":"164 New White Coats Issued at UConn Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Class of 2023, the largest incoming class in UConn Health\u2019s history, is now donning brand, new physician and dentist-to-be white coats.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 23, both UConn School of Medicine\u2019s 110 new medical students and UConn School of Dental Medicine\u2019s 54 new dental students, were celebrated by faculty, family, and friends, during the traditional White Coat ceremonies inside the Academic Rotunda.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time of year I get so excited because I know it\u2019s going to be electric,\u201d said Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of UConn\u2019s medical school in his address to the first-year medical students. \u201cYou are the largest class in UConn medical school\u2019s history! You are our future, and the future of medicine in Connecticut and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Sharon Gordon, dean of UConn\u2019s dental school spoke to her school\u2019s largest incoming class ever sharing: \u201cYour white coat represents the next phase of your life as you begin your journey in the dental profession. In this coat, you will learn to be skilled, compassionate, and ethical clinicians. Your coat is a symbol of your commitment to patient care. When you wear this coat\u2014and even when you don\u2019t\u2014be reminded of your duty to treat every patient with respect, dignity, and compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students in the UConn School of Medicine Class of 2023 recieved their white coats in a traditional ceremony on August 23, 2019. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
(Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
<\/div>\"\"<\/a>
<\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Lubna Farooqui, UConn School of Medicine Class of 2023, receives her white coat in the traditional ceremony on August 23. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Newlyn Joseph, UConn School of Medicine Class of 2023, receives his white coat. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Emily Lopez Santa, UConn School of Medicine Class of 2023, receives her white coat. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Bridget Oei, UConn School of Medicine Class of 2023, receives her white coat. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
<\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Lauren Gross, a student in the UConn School of Dental Medicine Class of 2023, receives her white coat. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Emmanuel Hanjar, a student in the UConn School of Dental Medicine Class of 2023, receives his white coat. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Senior Associate Dean for Education and Patient Care Steven Lepowsky is the master of ceremnies as students in the UConn School of Dental Medicine Class of 2023 receive their white coats on August 23. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Dean Sharon Gordon delivers the opening remarks as students in the UConn School of Dental Medicine Class of 2023 receive their white coats in a traditional ceremony on August 23. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Students in the UConn School of Dental Medicine Class of 2023 receive their white coats in a traditional ceremony on August 23. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div>\"\"<\/a>
Fifty-four students in the UConn School of Dental Medicine Class of 2023 (pictured) received their white coats on Aug. 23, along with UConn School of Medicine's 110 new medical students. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health photo)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

The powerful symbolism of the white coat was also shared by other dental and medical school leaders.<\/p>\n

Dr. Steven Lepowsky, senior associate dean at UConn School of Dental Medicine added, \u201cThe white coat is a symbol of the trust society puts in you as health care providers\u2014 trust that you will be a lifelong learner, a compassionate and empathetic professional, and an engaged member of the dental community contributing to the well-being of others. This is a great responsibility but we have tremendous confidence in the members of the class of 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI consider the white coat one of the primary symbols that represent a health care provider. Use your powers for good,\u201d shared Dr. Thomas Regan, assistant dean of admissions for the medical school.\u00a0\u201cWe hope to teach you the love of medicine. You may be an MS1 (medical student first-year), but I\u2019m an MS27. I\u2019m still learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

A warm welcome to the students was also given by Dr. Anton Alerte, president of the Alumni Board and 1998 graduate of UConn School of Medicine. \u201cI welcome you home\u2026and to the family,\u201d said Alerte. \u201cWe are a family that picked you, you are family we recruited. You are now a member of a 4,000 member community of former graduates, and faculty and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn Health\u2019s increase of its student body by 30% delivers on the promise of the statewide Bioscience Connecticut initiative aimed at growing the state\u2019s future health care workforce and its leadership in medical education.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s incoming medical student class is 76% from Connecticut, and 38% are UConn undergraduates. Also, 48% of the dental school\u2019s students hail from Connecticut, and 30% come from UConn. Also, both incoming classes are diverse with 23% from groups underrepresented in medicine and 26% from groups underrepresented in dentistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very thrilled and excited,\u201d said Basant Sallam, a first-year dental student who graduated from UConn. \u201cIt\u2019s been such a long process to get here, and especially long for me because I am coming from Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so happy to be here with my family, even though I have only known my classmates for a little while I am really proud of them,\u201d said DeCelia Browne, a new dental student from Orlando, Florida who graduated from Oakwood University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to be at UConn School of Medicine,\u201d shared first-year medical student Mary Accurso, of Glastonbury, Conn. after receiving her white coat.<\/p>\n

New UConn medical school student, Madison Adams, of Hopedale, Mass. added: \u201cAs I start my sixth year at UConn, I am proud to be a triple Husky from Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a first generation immigrant,\u201d shared Maria Antony, of Monroe, Conn., who is a first-year medical student and UConn graduate. \u201cI\u2019m wearing this white coat today because of all the family and friends who believed in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn graduate, Eric Beltrami, of Wolcott, Conn., also shared: \u201cWith this white coat over my shoulders I hope to make my patients\u2019 lives easier and their days brighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many people to thank including my family,\u201d said first-year medical student Christopher Bessette of West Hartford after putting his white coat on for the first time. He is a graduate of UPenn and son of Andy Bessette, a member of the UConn Board of Trustees and UConn Health Board of Directors. \u201cMy hope is today is the first step to paying back all the people who helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean Liang added: \u201cIt\u2019s been 40 years since I was in your seat. I\u2019m still learning from my patients. Congratulations Class of 2023, you deserve it, and have a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Class of 2023, the largest incoming class in UConn Health\u2019s history, is now donning new physician and dentist-to-be white coats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":153460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166,1868],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-153461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdm","category-meds"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 05:31:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/153460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153461"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=153461"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=153461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}