Many future doctors earned their white coats in the Undergraduate Medical Academy at the induction ceremony last Saturday night in the Memorial Student Center ballroom.
The white coat ceremony began in 2004, bringing in the 2004 charter class and the start of the UMA. Next was the 2005 gold class, followed by the 2006 emerald class and finally the 2007 diamond class who presented the 2008 rose class with their white coats.
Dr. Dennis E. Daniels, director of the UMA, was speaker and said that he had read in the New York Times that, “2.2 percent of physicians in the United States are African American . . . the numbers do not clearly represent the United States.”
Daniels also said that people refer to Prairie View’s UMA program is the ‘minority’ medical academy. “By using the word ‘minority’ people want to make them seem less than. Nothing is less than about these students,” said Daniels.
Daniels encouraged the students to be competitive not just within the UMA but also against everybody else outside the academy.”
“It’s an opportunity to learn and meet people you can network with,” said senior James Briers, when asked about the UMA and what it’s like.