Saturday, September 19th, 2020 was Adams official Mercer University School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony! We woke up early and drove to Macon from Savannah, Georgia. Adam and I got to meet his parents and brother at the Hawkins Arena before the ceremony.
We honestly thought that COVID was going to cancel this big event that we have been dreaming about for the past three years. Thankfully the university waited just a few weeks and put together a super safe and thoughtful event. Instead of being able to have unlimited guest, the university gave each student four tickets. Mask were required and everyone did a great job of wearing mask the whole time until we got to our seats. The medical students wore their mask the whole time and seemed as if it is their normal…which it is! To have the most safety and to keep social distance, the arena had every two seats zip tied up and a note saying ‘Do Not Use’. When it was time to dismiss, all of the medical students left first then the guest were let out one section at a time!
Once the ceremony got started it was absolutely beautiful. The speakers explained the history of the white coat ceremony and Mercer University Medical School that was pretty fascinating! The first white coat ceremony EVER was in 1993. Mercers mission is to educate physicians to serve in rural Georgia. The school has had over 2,000 MD’s graduate from the program. Mercer is proud to have most of their students that come from deep Georgia roots! The class of 2024 has 63 students at the Macon campus and 62 at the Savannah campus. The President of Mercer University has big plans to grow the medical school program and provide great health care in rural Georgia.
Adam is so happy to be apart of this program and we had a great day celebrating him and his classmates! After the short, 60 minute ceremony, we loaded up and headed to The Rookery in downtown Macon for lunch. We had wonderful food and fellowship! We loved spending time with Adams family and getting to celebrate all of his hard work that has lead to this season. The school could have decided to not have a gathering but we are so happy that they took the risk and let us enjoy a beautiful day!
