White Coat ceremonies are “rites of passage” for beginning medical students and are designed to reinforce the need for physicians to incorporate sensitivity and compassion as well as medical knowledge into their future endeavors. By donning the white coats and for the first time reciting the physician’s oath, each of the 120 beginning students at Mount Sinai School of Medicine symbolically commenced their training to become doctors at the ceremony which emphasized the importance of both scientific excellence and compassionate patient care.#