David C. Thomas, MD, MHPE, Dean for Medical Education and Chair of the Leni and Peter May Department of Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine, began the ceremony by outlining the responsibility students commit to by accepting the white coat. Patients and society “will trust you with their health. They will depend upon you to help heal them,” Dean Thomas said. “No matter who they are. No matter where they come from. No matter the color of their skin or the language they speak, the white coat represents our commitment to society and to health equity.”

Valerie Parkas, MD, Professor of Medicine, and Medical Education, Senior Associate Dean of Admissions and Recruitment, and Interim Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs, reflected on the importance of building clinical skills. “The narratives you are building as a physician-scientist or a physician with expertise in public health, or policy, or AI, or human rights, whatever your personal mission within medicine, will be propelled forward by excellence in clinical care,” she said. Dr. Parkas encouraged students “to always wear the white coat, understanding that it symbolizes the clinical skills at the center of your budding career, in which you all will make a huge impact.”

James Tisch, Co-Chair of the Mount Sinai Health System Boards of Trustees, reminded students that they are joining not just one of the top medical schools in the country, but an institution with a history of patient-centered care. “Mount Sinai physicians pride themselves not only on delivering the best care, but also the best compassionate care,” Chairman Tisch said. “The Trustees and I take great pride in you, knowing that your work from this day on will reflect the excellence of Mount Sinai.”

Brendan Carr, MD, MA, MS, Chief Executive Officer, and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair, Mount Sinai Health System, advised students to also show compassion to themselves. “Doctors are prestigious and orderly and brilliant. But we are also humble and flawed and everything else that comes with being human,” said Dr. Carr. He told students that the white coat is a symbolic part of the doctor’s uniform. “Our white coats show the world our composure—and underneath, the wear and tear of life and of medicine make us both the people and the doctors that we are,” he said.

Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Interim Dean, Icahn School of Medicine, and Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, spoke about the evolution of science and medicine and its impact on the students’ education and careers. Noting Mount Sinai’s position as a national leader in leveraging AI to advance medicine, he expressed excitement for the students’ futures. “You will all become outstanding clinicians who will master these new capabilities to improve diagnoses, identify disease earlier, and treat it more effectively,” Dean Nestler said.

In the Hans Popper, MD, PhD Keynote Address, Rachael Bedard, MD, 2010 graduate of the Icahn School of Medicine, said the human connection would remain a constant in the field of medicine, despite other continuous changes. “It is easy to imagine that the more that we come to rely on machines and algorithms and search engines to make our work less subjective and error-prone, the more we render interactions with patients incidental to our work,” said Dr. Bedard. But she noted that happily, “Connection with others is the enduring privilege and most defining task of becoming a physician. Once you get your white coats, you will literally put on the identity that makes the very specific kind of intimacy that occurs between a doctor and a patient possible.”

The White Coat keynote address is endowed in the name of Hans Popper, MD, PhD, a world-renowned physician and academic leader who served as the School’s founding dean.

After receiving their white coats, students recited an oath they drafted and ratified to reflect their class’ professional ideals. The oath was led by Carrie Ernst, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and Co-Chair of the Admissions Committee. Students pledged to anchor themselves “in the humanity shared with our patients” and “remain unyieldingly curious as we advance together toward scientific and professional growth.” They also promised to “work alongside our patients and communities, empowering them with the information, resources, and support to be true agents for themselves” and “to courageously pursue what is right, even when it is difficult.”

The School selected the Class of 2029, composed of 128 students—118 MD and 10 MD-PhD—from a pool of just over 8,000 applicants, from which the Admissions team interviewed nearly 800. The new students, ranging in age from 20 to 39, represent a breadth of backgrounds and experiences. The students are outstanding alumni of 52 undergraduate institutions, with majors in science, humanities, and the arts.