Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center (NUPOC) held its first-ever White Coat Ceremony for students earning O&P master’s degrees in 2026. NUPOC presented the students with a white coat to signify the start of their academic journey to becoming a certified practitioner.
According to a 2023 article in The O&P EDGE, Arnold Gold, MD, professor of Clinical Neurology and professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons was an advocate for compassion and human connection in medical care. Believing that the practice of medical students taking the Hippocratic Oath “at the end of their medical training occurred four years too late,” he implemented the first White Coat Ceremony at the institution in 1993. The ceremony is now common in medical schools and some O&P schools as a way to “welcome students to healthcare practice and to elevate the value of humanism as the core of healthcare,” according to the Arnold P. Gold Foundation website.
To read the August 2023 article, “What to Wear: Clinical Attire in O&P,” which expands on the idea that practitioner attire, including white coats, communicates expectations about the expertise and responsibilities of the wearer, visit The O&P EDGE website.
