The Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Warrior M.D. Class of 2025 will mark the next step in their educational journey at the Clinicians Ceremony, to be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 24 at the MotorCity Casino Hotel’s Sound Board Theatre in Detroit.

The event is held before the beginning of the third year of medical school and signifies a rite of passage for the school’s physicians-in-training as they embark upon a pivotal segment of their medical education journey--the beginning of core clinical clerkships.

During clerkships, students engage in direct patient care alongside doctors, residents and other members of the health care team, to learn and gain experience in primary care and medical specialties. The ceremony is coordinated with the school’s Gold Humanism Honor Society chapter, underscoring the challenges and imperatives to providing compassionate, collaborative and scientifically excellent care to all patients.

​During the ceremony, clerkship directors will present their incoming students with a symbolic gift of a stethoscope, reinforcing the sacredness of the doctor-patient relationship through physician connectedness to the heartbeat of the patient. They will also be officially “coated” by School of Medicine leadership, a parent, relative or mentor who is an M.D. or D.O. in the traditional hip-length white coat for medical students. They will receive pins to wear on their white coats as a reminder of their duty to their patients and their profession.

The ceremony concludes with Associate Dean of Clinical Education Christopher Steffes, M.D., leading the new class of physicians-in-training in the Clinician Pledge of Ethics.

"Although students are involved in clinical learning in their first and second year, their main goal is to master the scientific basis of medicine and pass the first part of the licensing exam," Dr. Steffes said. "This completed, they move on to full time clinical learning in clerkships where they are expected to act like physicians, professionally and ethically. This ceremony highlights the commencement of this professional identity and we now refer to them as physicians-in-training rather than students."  

To join the celebration online, WSU students, staff and faculty are encouraged to take photos of themselves, friends, family and colleagues with signs of congratulations and support to share on social media – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – with the #WarriorClinician hashtag.