White Coat Ceremony for First-Year Students

White Coat Ceremony is a rite of passage, welcoming new students into the profession. These ceremonies provide a
platform for senior professionals to reiterate to the students the commitment that they, as student pharmacists, are
making both to becoming and staying proficient in science and also to the human obligations of being a pharmacist.
The justification of this ceremony is based on goodwill felt by participants and an assumed connection between the
ceremony and promoting humanistic values in pharmacy practice.

Different schools and professional student bodies have assimilated the concept differently, with some preferring to have
their students take an oath in this ceremony. However, one symbolism cuts across all and this, we advocate for the
cloaking of the White Coat by a senior member of the profession. This symbolism serves to indicate that the faculty
believes in the students’ ability to carry on the noble tradition of doctoring.
The White Coat Ceremony 2023 was graced by Dr Riro Mwita, Director of KMA SACCO, Dr Elizabeth Itotia,
Radiopharmaceutical Quality Assurance Manager at KUTRRH, Dr Cohen Andove, Chairperson of PSK Young
Pharmacists Group, Dr Libeya Bethwel, Digital Marker and Pharmacist, Dr Dennis Ongarora, Senior Lecturer and Prof
Beatrice Amugune, Board Member of Pharmacy and Poisons Board.