College of Medicine welcomes class of 2026

More than 100 future physicians officially began their medical education during the Central Michigan University College of Medicine’s White Coat Ceremony on March 12.

Nearly 80 percent of the College of Medicine’s class of 2026 calls the Great Lakes State home.

The 103 students in the latest class, including 79 from Michigan, were drawn from a pool of more than 8,000 applicants.

Seven hold degrees from CMU. Another 31 received degrees from other Michigan universities. One in four has a graduate degree.

“At the CMU College of Medicine, I am proud that we have an outstanding team of faculty and staff whose only job is to take care of you and make sure that you are healthy, and well-prepared for the journey ahead of you,” said Dr. George Kikano, CMU vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, during the ceremony. “As a newer College of Medicine, we have seen our students match in outstanding residency programs throughout the country and some of our graduates from the early classes are now practicing physicians in the region and in Michigan.”

CMU’s College of Medicine and nearly every other medical school in the United States participate in the White Coat Ceremony, first held at Columbia University in 1993. Dr. Arnold P. Gold, a professor, pediatric neurologist and advocate for humanistic health care, came up with the idea of the White Coat Ceremony.

Gold believed the Hippocratic Oath should be taken by students at the start of their medical education and not only at the end where it traditionally occurs.