FORT WORTH, Texas – The University of North Texas Health Science Center faculty will welcome and initiate its newest class of incoming health professions students at the annual Convocation and White Coat Ceremony, August 4 at 3 p.m. at the Will Rogers Auditorium in the Amon Carter Jr. Exhibit Hall in Fort Worth. Dr. Benjamin L. Cohen, interim health science center president and executive dean, will lead the ceremony.

The White Coat Ceremony is a rite of passage for students entering the academic health community. The students are literally "coated" for the first time with a white coat, signifying their pending entry into the professional ranks. Participating will be 120 incoming students of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, 40 students of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 22 students in the Physician Assistant Studies Program and 73 in the School of Public Health.

The keynote speaker is Dr. William Anderson, past president of the American Osteopathic Association and current associate dean at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Supporters of the Convocation and White Coat Ceremony include the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, the Physician Assistant Studies Foundation, the Office of the President, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Texas Osteopathic Medical Association, 1999-2000 Graduate School Distinguished Alumnus Gerald Cagle, Ph.D., and the School of Public Health.

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