The White Coat Ceremony was started at Columbia University in the United States in 1988 as a way to instill a sense of professionalism. It quickly spread across the United States and eventually throughout the world. In 2006, the Keio University School of Medicine held its first White Coat Ceremony, welcoming the founders of the ceremony, Dr. Arnold P. Gold and his wife, as guests.
Recent advances in medical sciences have been remarkable, and the amount of knowledge medical students must acquire has grown exponentially as a result. On the other hand, physician professionalism is something that tends to be neglected. Professionalism is a concept that encompasses everything from the motivation to continue lifelong learning, humanism, ethics, altruism, and team-based medicine; it is essential to becoming a physician. The significance of the White Coat Ceremony is to make students aware of this professionalism just before their clinical clerkships begin.
The scene where faculty members personally help students don their white coats in front of the parents and friends who have supported them thus far is a moving one. It is because of this emotional experience that students can reaffirm their goal of entering the School of Medicine: "to become a physician." Additionally, during the White Coat Ceremony, the class summarizes and declares the kind of physicians they aspire to be. Through this, they can become deeply aware of the compassion they should have for patients and engrave their responsibilities as professionals in their hearts.