School of Medicine

The University of Kansas School of Medicine Welcomes the 100th Class


Aug 6, 2004

First-year medical students gathered outside of Murphy Administration Building after the White Coat Ceremony on Friday, Aug. 6, for a class picture. This class, the 100th class to enter the KU School of Medicine, has the highest MCAT (Medical College Application Test) scores of any entering class. Their White Coat Ceremony was the first of a series of events to celebrate the Centennial of the Medical School.
Faculty and staff at the University of Kansas School of Medicine welcomed the school's 100th class at the White Coat Ceremony August 6, 2004. During the ceremony, faculty cloaked students with their first white coats in Battenfeld Auditorium on the University of Kansas Medical Center campus. The School of Medicine was founded in 1905.

The White Coat Ceremony initiates students to the ideals of medical professionalism–altruism, accountability, excellence, duty and service, honor and integrity, patient interest above physician self-interest, and respect for others. The School of Medicine sponsors the ceremony to foster professionalism and empathy in medicine.

Eighty-four percent of the 175 entering students are from Kansas. They have the highest MCAT (Medical Collage Application Test) of any entering class in the history of the KU School of Medicine.

The keynote speaker for the event was Robert M. Daugherty, Jr. MD, PhD. Dr. Daugherty and his wife, Joy McCann Daugherty, announced a gift of $500,000 from the Joy McCann Foundation to the KU Endowment Association. This gift will endow the McCann Professorship in Rural Health Care. The fund will help the KU School of Medicine attract and retain a physician and researcher focused on the issues of rural health care in Kansas and the United States.

Dr. Daugherty graduated from the KU School of Medicine in 1960 and went on to hold leadership positions in medical schools at Michigan State University, the University of Wyoming, Indiana University, the University of Nevada and the University of South Florida. He has collaborated with the American International Health Alliance to develop education and workforce planning strategies for Central Asia. Dr. Daugherty continually supports the School of Medicine with donations--the first in 1991 to benefit rural students in Kansas and the second in 2003 to fund the Professorship for Women in Medicine and Science. Dr. Daugherty was named the 2004 Distinguished Medical Alumnus at the University of Kansas.

Jason Cheng, first-year medical student from Wichita, Kan., signed the Honor Code Book at the White Coat Ceremony as Shawn Stanley, second-year medical student, watched. This is the first year that students have publicly signed the Book. It was created to promote cooperative and honest learning at the School of Medicine and promote professionalism in the medical field. First-year medical students participate in the White Coat Ceremony, which is one of the student-focused initiatives in “Project Professionalism.” This project fosters a culture that honors maintenance of patient interest above physician self-interest, altruism, accountability, excellence, duty and service, honor and integrity and respect for others.
The University of Kansas School of Medicine is Kansas' only medical school and has an international reputation in biomedical research. The School of Medicine serves the Kansas City community and Kansas through the discovery of knowledge and the education of health professionals. More than 500 full and part-time faculty provide an innovative curriculum that combines intensive instruction in the basic sciences with hands-on patient-based clinical training.
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