School of Medicine Class of 2029 take first steps towards MD

Students in the Class of 2029 at the University of Missouri School of Medicine took their first steps as future physicians by partaking in two honored traditions. On July 30, new M1 medical students attended the annual Stethoscope Breakfast and received a stethoscope, their first medical tool. Two days later, students gathered in the Missouri Theater for the annual White Coat Ceremony and received a Mizzou-branded white coat.

This year’s class of 136 first-year medical students were selected from more than 3,600 applicants. Of the students in the class of 2029, 85% are from Missouri and 11% are from rural areas. 11 students in the entering class are part of the Lester Bryant Scholars Pre-Admissions Program, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2025.

At the White Coat Ceremony, School of Medicine leadership presented the new Mizzou medical students with their white coats and administered the Declaration of Geneva, a modern version of the Hippocratic Oath.

The ceremony was opened by Richard J. Barohn, MD, executive vice chancellor for health affairs and Hugh E. Sarah D. Stephenson dean of the School of Medicine. Barohn emphasized that the white coat represents the benevolence and respect that a physician must have for every patient.

“The white coat signifies a compact, a contract, a commitment – to knowledge, mutual respect and shared humanity,” said Barohn. “It symbolizes the humanity and compassion that you must possess in your approach to your role as a physician.”

Nathan Hesemann, MD ‘07, presented the keynote address at the White Coat Ceremony. Hesemann is an ophthalmologist and chief of eye services at Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Columbia.

The Class of 2029 also heard similar guidance at the annual Stethoscope Breakfast at the Patient-Centered Care Learning Center. Steven Daniels, MD ’87, an anesthesiology specialist with Sanford Health in Fargo, North Dakota, and member of Mizzou’s Dean’s Alumni Advisory Committee, co-presented alongside Barohn at the event.

At the event, Barohn emphasized that the stethoscope symbolizes the technical expertise physicians gain in medical school. It is the first tool medical students will master in their journey to become physicians, but it will not be their last. Barohn closed his remarks by encouraging the new first-year medical students to hold compassion and respect for their patients at the core of their medical education.

View Stethoscope Breakfast Photo Gallery

Corder Lehenbauer, one of the M1 students in attendance at the traditional School of Medicine events, is eager to meet his new classmates and begin the next journey in his academic career.

“As a Bryant Scholar, I’ve had the privilege to get early exposure to the curriculum and patient-based learning teaching style at Mizzou,” said Lehenbauer. “Receiving my white coat symbolizes the beginning of my life’s next chapter, where I hope to make an impact on others and advance medicine. I look forward to making my family, friends and mentors proud, and prove that their investment in me was worth it.”

Generous alumni and friends provided stethoscopes and white coats for students. This is the 13th year of the donation program, which has raised more than $325,000. In the past year, more than $33,000 has been raised with donations coming from alumni across 25 states and ranging from School of Medicine Classes of 1955 to 2024.

The first White Coat Ceremony was conducted in 1993 at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The ceremony was created by Arnold Gold, MD, a pediatric neurologist, who called the white coat his profession’s “cloak of compassion.” The Arnold P. Gold Foundation estimates that a White Coat Ceremony or similar rite of passage is now held at more than 90% of schools of medicine and osteopathy in the United States. The first White Coat Ceremony at Mizzou occurred in 1997.

View White Coat Ceremony Photo Gallery