Paige Nelson, of Emmons, was one of 60 first-year medical students at the University of Minnesota Medical School-Duluth to receive her first white coat and take an oath of compassion that she had written. The inspirational event was conducted in the Weber Music Hall on the UMD campus with a reception immediately afterwards in the medical school’s atrium.

Receiving their personal coats is a rite of passage for students entering medical school. Conducted at medical schools and other health care profession schools internationally, the White Coat Ceremony was created in 1993 at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons by Dr. Arnold Gold in order to stress the importance of humanism in the doctor-patient relationship.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Charles Branch, an alumnus of the UMD medical school who now is in residency in Ontario.

Three hundred and fifty people, including families of the students, local area physicians and alumni, and other dignitaries attended the event. The program was hosted by Regional Campus Dean Gary L. Davis, Ph.D., and organized by Lillian Repesh, Ph.D., associate dean of admissions and student affairs.

Nelson is a 2008 graduate of Lake Mills High School and the daughter of Todd and Melanie Nelson, of Emmons.