MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT: White Coat Ceremony for U of U School of Medicine Class of 2013

WHEN: Friday, August 21, at 1 p.m.

WHERE: Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. President’s Circle, U of U Campus

WHO: New U of U medical school students and their families, and School of

Medicine faculty, staff, and friends.

On Friday, the Class of 2013 will gather for a longstanding tradition in which faculty members – and future colleagues – welcome first-year medical students to the ranks of patient-care professionals. This is the first time the Class of 2013 will slip on the white coat, a symbol of compassionate care and expert professionalism. These students will also vow to practice ethical medicine throughout their education and careers by reciting the Hippocratic Oath for the first time.

Cecil O. Samuelson, Jr., M.D., will provide the keynote address. Before being called to the First Quorum of the Seventy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and serving as president of Brigham Young University, Samuelson dedicated 17 years of his career to the U of U, serving as dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for Health Sciences. A graduate of the U of U, Samuelson also served in many faculty and leadership positions at his alma mater, including director of the University of Utah Gerontology Program and professor of internal medicine. He left the U in 1990 to become president of Intermountain Healthcare Hospitals, Inc.