Three-and-a-half months into their medical education, the Lewis Katz School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Class of 2026 celebrated a significant milestone: the White Coat ceremony.
On September 20, 36 students stepped, one by one, onto the Mary Carole Erny Stage in Temple University Hospital’s Erny Auditorium and donned their white coats for the first time as proud family members and friends — with cameras poised — captured a moment years in the making.
The occasion marks a new phase of their curriculum. Up to this point, the students have spent all their time in a classroom digesting science-based lectures. They’ll now begin to process the many nuances of patient care by interacting with actual patients.
“This is where students learn that even though we ask them to read the textbook, our patients do not,” Christine Mount, MS, PA-C, program director, said.
Amy Goldberg, MD, FACS, the Marjorie Joy Katz Dean of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, encouraged the Class of 2026 to revel in the flood of experiences that the next 22 months of their education and training would inevitably bring.
“Remember, you're here for a reason, and you're here for a purpose,” she said. “You are not ‘just a PA student.’ When patients see you in your white coat, they see you as one of their care providers. They know you're a student. They know that you don't have your degree yet, but they can see in your eyes your concern and your true interest in them.”
The white coat has become synonymous with medical practice and all that goes into becoming a clinician. However, that’s just scratching the surface, Mount said. It also symbolizes “truth, justice, hope, and cleanliness,” she said, as well as the “great responsibility” that accompanies the ability to heal.
“By wearing your white coat, you are taking on a new identity,” she said, cautioning the students not to think of it as a superhero’s cape that would make them all-knowing and invincible. “Rather, it’s a cloak of humility, empathy, professionalism, and compassion. It should remind you of your limitations, your humanity, and your responsibility.”
With medicine’s rapid evolution, clinicians’ knowledge, skill, and access to technology have never been greater.
“You will benefit from training during the most technologically advanced period of medicine,” said Dr. Goldberg. “But I caution you that medicine is not just a science, and medicine is not only technology. While medicine involves the application of science and technology, it does so for the benefit of the patient. Let me repeat that: for the benefit of the patient. Therein lies the art of medicine. And at Temple, that art is the foundation on which everything else is built.”
In the days following this ceremony, the newly coated PA students, inspired by the words shared, will begin to fully grasp the significance of their white coats as they wear them on their journey to becoming skilled healthcare providers. Each day, the coat will be a constant companion—its pockets filled with notes, tools, or a quick snack. Over time, it will bear the marks of their experiences—stained with ink, coffee, and as Mount noted, "other fluids." It may even serve as an impromptu pillow during rare moments of rest or a layer of warmth when rushing between duties.
As they grow into their roles, these students will gain the confidence to diagnose, treat, and care for their patients. Dr. Goldberg encouraged them to stay curious and keep learning throughout their careers. Yet, she reminded them to always hold on to the simple, yet profound, desire to help others—the same motivation that drew them to the profession of physician assistant in the first place.
For in that desire lies the essence of medicine: the human connection that binds clinician and patient in the shared goal of healing and care.