TOLEDO, Ohio — The University of Toledo's College of Medicine and Life Sciences celebrated the next generation of healthcare workers Friday morning with their White Coat Ceremony.
The ceremony symbolizes students' entry into their first year of medical school.
According to the university, the class has 176 members with 67% of them from Ohio. Among those, 28% are from northwest Ohio. UToledo said the age range of the class is 21 to 35 with students coming from 21 different states. After Ohio, the most represented states are Michigan with eight, and California and Illinois each with six.
UToledo said they received more than 6,100 applications for medical school this year.
Sarah Atallah was one of the students who received their white coat and is excited for the next step in the medical field.
"This is something I wanted to do because my father is a physician. Seeing him take care of patients is something that was very inspiring," Atallah said. "Medicine is definitely a marathon and it's extremely difficult at times, but the best thing to do to get you through those difficult moments is definitely to remember why you chose this profession in the first place."
Imran Ali, the interim dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, said it's an honor and a privilege to be a healthcare provider and is ready to support those who are taking the next step in their careers.
"We as a family at the University of Toledo College of Medicine are here for them to help them through this journey," Ali said. "It's critically important that we highlight and model professionalism and ethical care which is the cornerstone of how we practice medicine."