![Students participate in the Dec. 14, 2022 White Coat Ceremony](/sites/nursing.ucsf.edu/files/styles/news_full/public/2023-01/White%20Coat%20Ceremony%20Group%20Dec.%202022.jpg?itok=KGHUM--g)
White Coat Ceremony Dec. 14, 2022
The auditorium was filled with cheers and applause as family, colleagues and friends gathered at the UCSF Mission Bay campus to honor students’ achievements during the UCSF School of Nursing’s White Coat Ceremony on Dec. 14, 2022. The day was particularly celebratory as it was the first time the ceremony was offered in person since 2019.
Established by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and offered in partnership with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the White Coat Ceremony is a rite of passage that provides an important emphasis on compassionate, collaborative, scientifically excellent care from the first day of training. The ceremony includes a pledge that students take to acknowledge their central obligation of caring for patients.
Associate Dean Mary Lynch, DNP, MPH, FAAN, welcomed guests and shared about the significance of the ceremony. Richard I. Levin, MD, president and CEO of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, Deborah Trautman, PhD, RN, FAAN, president and CEO of AACN, and Rear Admiral Aisha K. Mix, DNP, MPH, FAAN, chief nurse officer of the United States Public Health Service, gave keynote addresses. The ceremony culminated in the donning of the white coats and the recitation of the white coat pledge led by Marianne Biangone, PhD, RN, director of the Master's Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN).