Harrogate, Tennessee, –  Kevin Hammond of Salem, Va., received his white coat at the White Coat Ceremony at Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine (LMU-DCOM) in Harrogate, Tenn., on September 29, 2012.

Hammond is a first-year osteopathic medical student at LMU-DCOM. The White Coat Ceremony is a special ceremony designed to mark a student’s entrance into medical school. The first White Coat Ceremony was held in 1993 at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and is now a standard ritual in institutions of both allopathic and osteopathic medical education across the country. During the Ceremony, each medical student is presented and “robed” with his or her short white laboratory coat, formalizing and welcoming the student’s entrance into the study of medicine.

The DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine is located on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. LMU-DCOM is an integral part of LMU’s values-based learning community, and is dedicated to preparing the next generation of osteopathic physicians to provide health care in the often underserved region of Appalachia and beyond. For more information about LMU-DCOM, call 1-800-325-0900, ext. 7082, email dcom@lmunet.edu, or visit us online at www.lmunet.edu/dcom.

Submitted by Amy Drittler, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Health Sciences,  Lincoln Memorial University