Coffeyville Community College graduate Steven M. Hassenplug was honored Friday, August 14, at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Class of 2013 White Coat Ceremony. The event was held in the Sam Noble Hall of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City. Steven served as CCC’s Eta Gamma Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa President 2004-2005 and the Society’s International Vice President from 2005-2006. He was the Russell H. Graham Outstanding Graduate at CCC and in May 2009, received a B.S. degree in Biological Science from Oklahoma State University. The 167 members of the OU medical class of 2013 were selected from over 1,600 applicants. The students represent a rich diversity with more than forty-five universities such as Duke, Georgetown, Tulane, Auburn, Texas Tech, and Brigham Young represented in the students’ undergraduate and graduate degrees. Graduates from the University of Oklahoma led the list with seventy-eight members while Oklahoma State University was second with fifteen students selected. The processional for the White Coat Ceremony featured the OU String Quartet while M. Dewayne Andrews, M.D., Executive Dean of the College of Medicine, presented the welcome and introductions. Greetings and remarks were delivered by Robert Weedn, M.D., President of the OU College of Medicine Alumni Association and Kent King, M.D., President, Oklahoma State Medical Association. Robert Mannel, Director, OU Cancer Institute, delivered the address. Following the cloaking ceremony, the new medical students took an Oath of Commitment followed by a welcome from Jordan Paslay, class of 2010 and president of the OU Medical Student Council. The Arnold P. Gold Foundation supported the White Coat Ceremony by providing each of the students with a “Humanism in Medicine” pin and in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a copy of the book, One Breath Apart: Facing Dissection by Sandra Bertman. The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine utilizes the student “module” system to provide students with a home base, space for self-study and small-group discussions, social enrichment, and a family atmosphere during the first two years of medical school. Each student module carries the name of a prominent physician who has contributed to the science and professionalism of the medical discipline. Steven was one of 18 students assigned to module 253, The Philip Showalter Hench Module. The White Coat Ceremony recognizes that the white coat represents cleanliness, hygiene, attention to the patient’s needs, and recognition by the physician that he or she must prepare carefully to approach the patient. The white coat is a symbolic affirmation that the physician is committed to health, healing and the relief of suffering. The White Coat Ceremony is a tradition followed by medical schools across the country. Attending the White Coat Ceremony were Steven's father, Mike Hassenplug and family friends Chuck and Linda McFate, Jeanie Martin, and Kylie Cunningham.