White Coat Ceremonies welcome incoming Carver College of Medicine classes
Incoming medical, physician assistant, and biomedical sciences students will soon be welcomed with ceremonies commemorating the next step of their health careers. Each student will be ceremonially cloaked with their white coat—or lab coat, for PhD students—by leaders of the college this August.
Meet the incoming class
Three incoming students share who they are, how they got here, and their dreams for the future.
Incoming physician assistant student Jayla Jones is starting physician assistant school a few years later than many of her classmates—but in many ways, her life experiences put her a step ahead.
Incoming biomedical sciences graduate student Cobey (Heinen) Donelson's love for the lab led him to a PhD program at Iowa.
Aug. 8: Physician Assistant White Coat Ceremony
2 p.m. | Prem Sahai Auditorium, 1110 MERF
The Carver College of Medicine will hold its 19th White Coat Ceremony for first-year students of the physician assistant program.
The event welcomes the Carver College of Medicine PA class of 2026, and it represents the first time these future physician assistants will recite the Physician Assistant Oath, which lays out the ethical tenets of the profession.
Class Profile
25 students
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15 women
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10 men
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6 first generation college students
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12 students from Iowa (students from 10 states)
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Average age: 25
Academic profile
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3.77 overall GPA
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3.78 overall Science GPA
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3.86 last 40 hours Science GPA
Other statistics
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4,865 average health contact hours
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363 average research hours
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28 average shadowing hours
Aug. 16: Doctor of Medicine White Coat Ceremony
3 p.m. | Hancher Auditorium
The Carver College of Medicine will hold its 30th White Coat Ceremony for first-year students beginning their medical education at Iowa.
The event welcomes the Carver College of Medicine class of 2028, and it represents the first time these future physicians will recite the Oath of Hippocrates, calling attention to the importance of the doctor-patient relationship.
Faculty representatives for each of the college’s learning communities—Bean Community, Boulware Community, Flocks Community, and McCowen Community—will introduce the students.
Class Profile
153 students
- 69 female
- 84 male
- 7 underrepresented in medicine
- 32 languages spoken
- 15 first-generation students
- Mean age: 23
Residency
- From 20 states
- 103 Iowa residents
- 26 from rural backgrounds
Academics
- Mean undergraduate GPA: 3.81
- Median MCAT score: 515
- 49 University of Iowa undergrads
- 30 different undergraduate majors
- 18 students with advanced degrees
- 65 undergraduate institutions represented
Aug. 23: Biomedical Science Graduate Program Lab Coat Ceremony
3 p.m. | Prem Sahai Auditorium, 1110 MERF
The Carver College of Medicine and Graduate College look forward to holding the fourth annual Laboratory Coat Ceremony for incoming graduate students of the following programs:
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Biomedical Science Graduate Program
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Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Human Toxicology
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Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetic
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Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience
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Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology
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Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Graduate Program.
Reception to immediately follow in the atrium of the Eckstein Medical Research Building.
Class Profile
29 students
Average cumulative GPA: 3.63
Identify as:
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Female 66%
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Male 33%
Average Age: 23
Colleges/universities represented: 32
Points of origin
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United States: 57%
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8 states represented: California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia
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International: 43%
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6 countries represented: Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan
The Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine is part of University of Iowa Health Care, the state’s only comprehensive academic medical center. Based in Iowa City and dedicated to providing world-class health care and health-related outreach services to all Iowans, UI Health Care also includes University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and University of Iowa Physicians, the state’s largest multi-specialty physician group practice.