Carey Medical College Welcomes New Class
The William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine hosted the sixth annual White Coat Ceremony for the new medical college class, the Class of 2019, on August 15 in Smith Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus.
During the ceremony, each student was ceremonially cloaked with a white medical coat, which signifies the excellence and caring nature demanded of those entering the medical profession, in front of university administration, faculty and family members. After receiving their coats, students then signed their names in the "Big Red Book," a tradition started by the inaugural class in 2010. Each class signs in to the book during the White Coat Ceremony and then signs out during commencement.
The new class consists of 108 students selected from 2,807 applicants. There are 56 men and 52 women in the class. In keeping with the medical college's mission to serve the Gulf South region, 87 percent of the class is from Gulf South states, including 28 from Mississippi, 23 from Texas, 22 from Louisiana, eight from Florida and seven from Tennessee. A total of 16 states and two foreign countries are represented in the class.
The new class was also honored at a welcome reception on August 18 at the Historic Train Depot in Hattiesburg. The reception was co-sponsored by the Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association, the Area Development Partnership, the City of Hattiesburg and the Forrest County Board of Supervisors.
The Carey medical college, the second medical school in Mississippi and the state's only osteopathic medical school, was established in 2010 to address the severe shortage of physicians in Mississippi and surrounding states and to impact the health care of rural Mississippians. The inaugural class graduated in 2014 followed by the second class in 2015.