The OD Class of 2010 gathered on Saturday, February 16, 2008, in the IMU Alumni Hall to participate in the 5th annual White Coat Ceremony. Members of the class celebrated their accomplishments and reflected on the next two years of school as well as their futures as Doctors of Optometry. The students shared dinner with classmates, family, friends, instructors, and distinguished visitors. The ceremony included the "cloaking" of the students by faculty members--initiating the second-year students' move into the clinical phase of their education. Dr. Edwin Marshall (IU Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs and Professor of Optometry) presented a history of the White Coat Ceremony. Dr. Joan Korb, an IU alumna and former president of the American Academy of Optometry (the first woman to hold the position) was the keynote speaker. The White Coat Ceremony has its tradition in allopathic medical schools, and was initiated in 1993 at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. During medical graduation ceremonies, every new doctor takes the Hippocratic Oath, which outlines a doctor's responsibility to his/her patients and to "first, do no harm." Dr. Arnold Gold (a Columbia professor), however, believed the oath came too late, and that before the students worked with patients, they should undergo a similar ceremony. His solution was the white coat ceremony. Since that time, it has gained popularity on many health profession campuses--including osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and optometry. The ceremony is meant to mark a student's transition into a profession that demands a higher standard of humanism and professionalism. The ceremony is designed to establish a psychological contract for health professions students that stresses the importance of "caring" as a significant aspect of healing and serving patients. It also serves to reinforce the importance of portraying a professional posture so that patients and their loved ones feel comfortable placing their trust in the interns' hands. "It's kind of a rite of passage," said Dr. Marshall. "When cloaked, students are ceremoniously acknowledging their role as members of the healing profession. They're saying, 'I'm putting on this white coat and I am now committed to professionalism and public service.'" Special thanks to Vistakon for its financial generosity that makes this event possible.