The incoming class of 2014 received their white coats or “cloaks of compassion” and recited the Hippocratic Oath signifying their passage into the medical community on Friday August 6, at the City Avenue Hilton.

Joseph Capo, entering his first year at the College of Medicine, was cloaked by three family members. His father and the College of Medicine’s Alumni Association President, Joseph M. Capo, M.D., ’82; his aunt, Angela Capo Granata, M.D., ’86; and his sister Catherine, a second-year Drexel University College of Medicine student, all did the honors of draping Capo’s white coat around his shoulders.

“My dad and aunt feel a little more at ease with me at Drexel. They are confident that Drexel will train me to be like them - compassionate, competent, trusted by patients, and well respected in the community,” says Capo. “As for my sister, she is probably most excited about embarrassing me on campus, but more than that, she's ecstatic that I'm going to be sharing a campus and a career with her.”

The cloaking followed a speech given by Alumni President Capo who told the story of his family’s “tradition” with Drexel University College of Medicine. Then, the excited first-year medical students donned their white coats for the first time and took the Hippocratic Oath in front of proud family and friends.

The keynote speaker, Jack Kelly, M.D., chief of staff at Abington Memorial Hospital, delivered a humorous and at the same time serious talk on the meaning of being a doctor.

About the White Coat Ceremony
The first White Coat Ceremony took place in 1993 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. The concept has spread to encompass 90 percent of medical schools nationwide. It was designed to produce a new generation of physicians with a renewed focus on compassion.