Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Welcomes the Class of 2017 in its Annual White Coat Ceremony
The 140 students were selected from 5,468 applications to Mount Sinai, a significant increase in applications from previous years.
Today, 140 first-year students from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai donned symbolic white coats, pocketed new stethoscopes and recited a physician's oath that they helped to write – all part of a ceremony that commemorates the students' entry into professional training.
"As we commence this transformative experience of becoming physicians, we strive to uphold the values of integrity and compassion in all aspects of our medical careers," the oath reads. "We rise to meet the challenges of an evolving field of medicine, an evolving patient population, and an evolving self."
The 140 students were selected from 5,468 applications to Mount Sinai, a significant increase in applications from previous years. Forty-nine percent of the incoming students are women; their ages range from 19 to 34 and they come from 70 different undergraduate institutions. The schools most heavily represented include the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Brown, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton and the University of California.
Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, said at the ceremony: "The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is at a transformative moment in its history. Despite external economic pressures, we are one of the few medical schools expanding our programs in clinical care, research, and education. Our medical and graduate students, along with our faculty members, are among the most talented in America. With advances in the sequencing of the human genome, the identification of disease-related genes and the refining of personalized healthcare, we challenge our new doctors to help lead the revolution taking place in medicine today."
The students come from a variety of backgrounds. Many are the first in their families to go to college much less medical school. One student excelled as a scholar-athlete having played both Varsity Lacrosse and Varsity Football at Duke, while another entered the University of Washington at age 15. There is a Rhodes Scholar and a Fulbright awardee among the group.
Efe "Chantal" Ghanney, a Class of 2017 student, was born and raised in Ghana and is the first in her family to go to college. She graduated from Yale, where she was the Head Peer Liaison for the Office of International Students, and served as a mentor for other international students. She has volunteered at the Haven Free Clinic and a local hospice in New Haven. One of her passions is dance – including ballet, tap, salsa and adowa.
The white coat event is a rite of passage now familiar to matriculating medical students around the world. The keynote speaker was Angela Diaz, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and the Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. Remarks were made by Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, Peter W. May, Chair, The Mount Sinai Boards of Trustees; Dean Charney, and David Muller, MD, Dean of Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
"This white coat ceremony marks the important beginning of a lifetime's journey in medicine for these exceptionally talented men and women," said Dr. Muller. "They have enormous potential and we welcome them as the newest members of Mount Sinai's vibrant clinical, research and teaching community."
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Established in 1968, the Icahn School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States, with more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes. It ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report. The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. The Mount Sinai Hospital is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 25 hospitals in 7 specialties based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors.
For more information, visit Mount Sinai on the web, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2023-2024.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
AI Can Help Doctors Make Better Decisions and Save Lives
Jun 13, 2024 View All Press Releases
AI-Driven Study Redefines Right Heart Health Assessment With Novel Predictive Model
Jan 04, 2024 View All Press Releases
Demystifying a Key Receptor in Substance Use and Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Jan 02, 2024 View All Press Releases