Convocation week events
T.H. Chan School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony
Date: Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, 2 p.m.
Location: The Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts
Details on tickets, parking, etc. will be sent to the participating students.
Unlike some academic events that encompass centuries of tradition, the White Coat Ceremony was initiated by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation on August 20, 1993, at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where Arnold Gold, MD, was a teacher and pediatric neurologist for more than 40 years. A White Coat Ceremony or similar rite of passage now takes place at nearly all U.S. medical schools, as well as at osteopathic schools of medicine and schools in several other countries.
The event emphasizes the importance of both scientific excellence and compassionate care for the patient. The cloaking with the white coat—the mantle of the medical profession—is a hands-on experience that underscores the bonding process. The white coat is placed on each student’s shoulders by individuals who represent the value system of the school and the new profession the students are about to enter.
At UMass Chan Medical School, incoming T. H. Chan School of Medicine students are presented with their white coats by the student’s Learning Community mentor and an individual significant in the student’s personal and/or professional development, chosen by the student.
The White Coat Ceremony will be live streamed on the UMass Chan Facebook and YouTube accounts and the recording will remain available after the ceremony.
View and purchase photos from the 2024 White Coat Ceremony.
Learning Communities
Beginning in 2010, T.H. Chan School of Medicine students became members of Learning Communities, established to allow more inter-class interaction where students can learn from each other as they will when they are out in the real world. All entering first-year students are assigned to one of eight “Houses,” each with regionally significant names. Each House includes approximately 125 students, four cohorts from all four class years. These social and academic homes are overseen by faculty mentors, who act as advisers, teachers and career development coaches. Learn more here.
Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing Pinning Ceremony
Date: Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, 6 p.m.
Location: Albert Sherman Center Auditorium
In the presence of family, guests and faculty members, students in the Graduate Entry Pathway (GEP) program are ceremonially presented with their nursing pins and welcomed into the nursing community by campus leaders. The GEP program, for individuals with a baccalaureate degree in a field other than nursing, leads first to registered nurse licensure and then to advanced nursing specialties. The pinning ceremony symbolizes successful completion of the courses and clinical experiences required for taking the licensure exam.
Check back here the day of the event to access the link to a live webcast.
Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing Transition into Clinical Practice Ceremony
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, 5 p.m.
Location: Albert Sherman Center Auditorium
In the presence of family, guests and faculty members, Doctor of Nurse Practitioner (DNP) second-year students entering their clinical year are ceremonially presented with their white coats during this Transition into Clinical Practice ceremony.
The white coat is a symbol of humanism, collaboration and scientific excellence in health care. These values are consistent with and integral to nursing.
Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Recognition Ceremony
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, 3 p.m.
Location: Albert Sherman Center Auditorium
Members of the UMass Chan Medical School scientific community, including students and faculty from all three schools, gather to recognize the accomplishments of their future colleagues.
The Qualifying Exam marks an important milestone in the educational and professional development of basic science and clinical research graduate students: the transition from classroom-based learning to candidacy for a doctoral degree. Our ceremony recognizes those who have successfully completed the exam and are proceeding with thesis research in the laboratory of their faculty advisor.
Convocation: A Celebration of Faculty
Date: Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, 4 p.m.
Location: Albert Sherman Center Auditorium
UMass Chan Medical School celebrates the beginning of each new academic year by coming together as a campus community to reflect on our shared values and our vocation as caregivers, researchers, teachers, students and community members. Convocation and related events are traditionally scheduled for the third week in September.
Convocation is characterized by a celebration of faculty. Highlights of the ceremony include recognition of newly tenured and recently promoted faculty and announcement of the recipients of the Chancellor's Medals for distinguished teaching, distinguished scholarship, distinguished service and distinguished clinical excellence. These recognitions are part of the chancellor’s keynote address, which emphasizes the accomplishments of the previous year and the challenges for the coming year.
Check back here the day of the event to access the link to the live webcast.
Investiture: A Celebration of Faculty and Donors
Date: Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, 4 p.m.
Location: Albert Sherman Center Auditorium
Investiture honors members of our faculty who have been appointed to named professorships and the generous donors who made these appointments possible. The first Investiture Ceremony was held in 1999 when there was such an extraordinary roster of honors to bestow that a new celebratory event to reflect this achievement was created. Today, there are more than 60 named professorships, a reflection of the growth and maturity of UMass Chan Medical School.
Investiture is both a formal academic ceremony and a warm and personal event. Recipients are recognized for their professional accomplishments, and donors, for their generous support. The two are symbolically linked when the donor presents a medallion symbolizing the appointment of the faculty member. The ceremony ends with the roll call of named professors—some of the finest scholars, scientists, teachers and researchers in the world.
Endowments, precious and essential resources for the institution, increase UMass Chan’s ability to attract and retain individuals distinguished in their fields. Named professorships also provide an opportunity for donors to contribute to the enrichment and vitality of the institution’s academic and scientific environment.
For additional information about the endowed chairs at UMass Chan, visit the Office of Advancement website.