Coating the Class of 2028

_{Left to right: NYITCOM-Arkansas students Layla Al-Nadi, Reem Mazza, Catherine La, and Jessica Horn}

Approximately 400 future physicians received white coats at the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s (NYITCOM) annual White Coat Ceremonies on Long Island, N.Y., and in Jonesboro, Ark., annual events symbolizing the beginning of students’ medical education journey.

The white coat has served as a symbol of healing and trust since the late 1800s, reminding physicians to embody the empathy and service they have pledged to their patients. Prior to that time, many physicians wore black, the color also worn by clergy because seeking medical advice was believed to be a precursor to death. As medicine became more widely viewed as a scientific profession, more physicians took to wearing white coats symbolizing the “pureness” of science, which allowed them to distinguish themselves from those who did not practice evidence-based medicine. Today, medical students wear a short white coat while in training and longer coats when entering the field.

At this year’s NYITCOM White Coat Ceremonies, the incoming class prepared to fill the shoes of the Class of 2024, whose members achieved a match rate of more than 99 percent and earned residencies at esteemed institutions such as Harvard South Shore (psychiatry), Dartmouth Hitchcock (anesthesiology), Tulane University (pediatrics), Vanderbilt University (internal medicine), and many others. In addition, 10 members of the class went on to complete their residencies in branches of the U.S. armed forces.

NYITCOM-Arkansas celebrated the Class of 2028 on Friday, August 9 at the Arkansas State University Fowler Center.

The Class of 2028 represents the ninth class to attend NYITCOM’s Jonesboro location, which was established in 2016 to train physicians to help alleviate the significant physician shortage facing Arkansas and the Greater Mississippi Delta region.   

NYITCOM Dean Nicole Wadsworth, D.O., NYITCOM-Arkansas Site Dean Shane Speights, D.O., and Assistant Professor and Associate Dean of Academics and Graduate Medical Education Amanda Deel, D.O., welcomed students who recently arrived in Jonesboro to begin their medical education.

Several alumni were also in attendance and coated family members beginning their medical education journey. Sally Patel (D.O. ’20), an NYITCOM-Long Island graduate, coated her sister Pooja and, for the first time, several NYITCOM-Arkansas alumni coated incoming students. This included Alexander Howell (D.O. ’20), who coated his brother Nicholas, Joshua Wilcoxson (D.O. ’21), who coated his sister Hallie, and Garrett McKamie (D.O. ’24), who coated his cousin Carson Wood. 

Jonesboro native Nathaniel Lamb was also among those who received his white coat.

“It’s just been an awesome experience to get to stay here locally and to know that I get to influence the local community by coming out and becoming a doctor in this area,” said Lamb, who earned his undergraduate degree from Arkansas State University, and looks forward to earning his medical degree in his hometown.

The ceremony also included the presentation of the second-annual Dr. Michael and Julie Isaacson Scholarship, which supports students from select Arkansas Delta counties who are interested in one day practicing in a medically underserved community. Karley Bloesch of Poplar Grove, Ark., was honored as this year’s recipient of the scholarship, which is funded by the Sidney and Mary Ann Arnold Foundation. 

“I’m extremely grateful to the Arnold family and Dr. and Mrs. Isaacson for this gift and I’m humbled to be selected,” Bloesch said. “Being from a small Delta town, rural healthcare impacts my life daily, and seeing the disparities within it inspires me to make an impact. This scholarship will not only help financially, but it will help motivate me to become the physician that my community needs.”

NYITCOM-Long Island’s White Coat Ceremony took place on August 14 at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, N.Y.

Here, the Class of 2028 was welcomed by Dean Wadsworth, New York Tech Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Balentine, D.O., Vice Chair of New York Institute of Technology’s Board of Trustees Daniel Ferrara (D.O. ’86), and New York Tech President Henry C. Foley, Ph.D.

The event’s keynote address was provided by Marsha Alexander (D.O. ’02), a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders. In sharing stories from her 26 years in medicine, Alexander urged the future physicians to find joy throughout their medical education and career, and to practice empathy—both with themselves and their future patients.

“As you don your white coat for the first time in front of your family, friends, and faculty [I hope] that your journey in medicine will be one where you can give and receive joy. I hope you can give and receive compassion with self-care…I hope you value and enjoy being a member of a noble family of physicians,” said Alexander.

In addition to receiving their white coats, students were gifted with engraved, personalized stethoscopes funded by the generosity of many NYITCOM donors, including Ferrara, who led the presentation of the gifts.

Multiple other NYITCOM alumni were also present to coat family members, including Phil Spadafora (D.O. ’89), who coated his sons James, Jonathan, and Philip.

“Not only could I have ever imagined that all three of my boys would choose to pursue careers in medicine, but that they would follow so closely in my footsteps by attending New York Institute of Technology. I feel overwhelmingly proud and honored to be able to present each one with their white coat and I’m confident they will have success along their journeys,” said Spadafora, who also recently partnered with a former classmate to create a new scholarship to support an NYITCOM student with financial need.

By Kim Campo and Casey Pearce