MDs of the Future Take Center Stage

The 141 new Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) students recite the Physician's Oath for the first time at the School's 2025 White Coat Ceremony, which welcomes the incoming class.
Credit: Stony Brook Medicine

141 RSOM students officially begin journey into Medicine at White Coat Ceremony

STONY BROOK, NY, August 13, 2025 - A record 141 incoming students donned their physician-in-training white coats for the first time at the Renaissance School of Medicine's (RSOM) 2025 White Coat Ceremony on August 8 at Stony Brook University's Staller Center. The event marked the first of many steps these students will take on their way to becoming medical doctors while matriculating at the RSOM.

White Coat Ceremonies are tradition at many established medical schools around the nation. These ceremonies are an initiation rite and are symbolic to Medicine as a profession that combines professionalism with scientific excellence, scholarship and compassionate care. The RSOM at Stony Brook University has held a white coat ceremony since 1998.

The incoming students are a select group. According to RSOM administrators, only seven percent of the applicants were accepted into the program for the 2025-26 academic year.

At the RSOM 2025 White Coat Ceremony, the incoming class of RSOM students stand up to recognize and cheer for their parents, family members and friends who have supported them toward their journey into medical school.
Credit: Stony Brook Medicine

Collectively, the class received their undergraduate degrees from 61 different universities or schools nationwide with Stony Brook University the most represented school. Nineteen of the students received an undergraduate or master's degree from Stony Brook University. The class median total undergraduate GPA is 3.89 out of a perfect 4.00.

"Today we celebrate the members of the Entering Class of 2025 as they begin their journey to becoming doctors, and we are delighted that you have decided to pursue your education at the Renaissance School of Medicine, the top-ranked public medical school by NIH funding in New York State," said Peter Igarashi, MD, the Knapp Dean of the RSOM, addressing the students.

Dr. Igarashi pointed out that 35 percent of the class are the first in their families to earn a college degree.

"Think about that: more than one-third of this year's incoming students are first-generation college graduates beginning medical school. What a remarkable achievement," he emphasized.

A high portion of the students (86 percent) hail from New York State, with more than one-third from Long Island. The rest of the students come from 11 other states or countries. Also, 66 percent of the class are women.

The new RSOM students enter the field of Medicine during a changing, challenging, and exhilarating time in which scientific breakthroughs and new technologies are transforming medicine. They will practice in an era of telemedicine, growing specialty practices, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and new and better treatments for diseases that were previously deadly or difficult-to-treat.