Students don their white coats in next step to becoming doctors, pharmacists and dentists

Health sciences students were all smiles during their white coat ceremonies in August and September. So were the family and friends who came to see them take a visible step toward becoming doctors, pharmacists and dentists.

At the University of Illinois Chicago and the health sciences campuses in Rockford and Peoria, first-year students in the College of Medicine, Retzky College of Pharmacy and College of Dentistry walked across the stage to receive the white coats they’ll wear during their studies.  

Watch the recording of the UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy White Coat Ceremony.

At the College of Medicine ceremony in Chicago, Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda urged students to “remain strong advocates to improve the public good, and to remain grounded in our values of kindness to others, compassion for those in need and justice for those that continue to face structural impediments to a better quality of life,” as they progress toward graduation.

Click through the gallery to see students, family, faculty and staff who celebrated this next step for students toward their health care careers.