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The journey begins: White Coat Ceremonies welcome incoming Carver College of Medicine classes

Date: Monday, July 31, 2023

Incoming MD, PA, and PhD 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. 

Prior to the start of classes, each first-year MD and PA student at the Carver College of Medicine is assigned to one of four learning communities that will serve as their academic home for the entirety of their medical training at Iowa. Each learning community is comprised of an even mix of first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year medical students as well as students of the physician assistant program. The communities are designed to foster more peer-to-peer interactions, provide opportunities for leadership and service, and strengthen students’ relationships with faculty, collegiate staff, and others across campus. 

Aug. 3: Physician Assistant White Coat Ceremony

2 p.m. | Prem Sahai Auditorium, 1110 MERF

The Carver College of Medicine will hold its 18th White Coat Ceremony for first-year students of the physician assistant program. 

The event welcomes the Carver College of Medicine PA class of 2025, 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.

The Class of 2025 by the numbers

25 students

  • 17 women

  • 8 men

  • 2 first generation college students

  • 9 students from Iowa (students from 10 states)

  • Average age: 24

Academic Profile  

  • 3.85 overall GPA

  • 78% Average GRE-Verbal

  • 82% Average GRE-Quantitative

  • 88% Average GRE-Analytical

Other Statistics 

  • 2,440 average health contact hours 

  • 455 average research hours 

  • 20 average shadowing hours 

Aug. 11: Doctor of Medicine White Coat Ceremony

3 p.m. | Hancher Auditorium

The Carver College of Medicine will hold its 29th White Coat Ceremony for first-year students beginning their medical education at Iowa.  

The event welcomes the Carver College of Medicine class of 2027, 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 CommunityBoulware CommunityFlocks Community, and McCowen Community—will introduce the students. 

The Class of 2027 by the numbers

152 students 

  • 73 women
  • 79 men
  • 23 first-generation college students
  • 101 from Iowa 
  • 51 from out-of-state 

Undergraduate Colleges: 

  • University of Iowa: 52 (44.1%) 
  • Iowa State University: 8 (5.3%) 
  • University of Northern Iowa: 7 (4.6%)
  • Other Iowa Colleges: 13 (8.6%) 
  • Colleges Outside of Iowa: 72 (47.4%) 

Academics 

  • Undergraduate GPA Mean: 3.80 
  • Undergraduate GPA Median: 3.85
  • MCAT Mean: 514
  • MCAT Median: 515

Aug. 18: 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 third annual Laboratory Coat Ceremony for incoming graduate students of the Biomedical Science Graduate Program, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Human Toxicology, and Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience.

No ticket is required to attend. Reception to immediately follow in the adjacent Jean and Renée Robillard Atrium.

2023 Entering Class Profile - Biomedical Science Graduate Program

Class Size: 21

Average Cumulative GPA: 3.56

Identify as:

  • Female 59%
  • Male 36%
  • First-generation college student 38%


Average Age: 25

Colleges/Universities Represented: 23

Points of Origin

  • United States: 45%
    • 7 states represented: Iowa, California, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Utah, and Wisconsin
  • International: 52%
    • 7 countries represented: Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Turkey, United Kingdom

Will Sgrignoli turned 30 the same month he started medical school. But that’s not the only thing that makes his path to medicine look a little different from those of his classmates; he is also pivoting from a career as a Navy physical therapist.

Skylar McCaulley dreamed of being a physician since childhood, when he witnessed the experiences of several members of his immediate family who live with Type 1 diabetes. He was building the path to that dream when, on August 13, 2021, everything changed.

Emma Luhmann didn't consider herself a "science person" when she started college. Now she's starting her PhD at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine after discovering a passion for mass spectrometry while working in the UI lab of Lilliana Radoshevich, PhD.

Harrison Cater is the third generation of his family to enroll in the physician assistant program at the University of Iowa, but the decision to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather was anything but easy. Over time, he intentionally built the skills he would need to succeed in the field.