Nearly 300 students will be welcomed into the Wayne State University School of Medicine Class of 2015 during the traditional White Coat Ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 6, at 11 a.m. at Orchestra Hall, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48201.

Surrounded by family and friends, the students will be cloaked with the short white coats that will identify them as medical students during the next four years. After receiving their coats, the students will recite the Hippocratic Oath, pledging to practice medicine ethically.

This year a special guest speaker, state Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Township), Senate Appropriations chairman, will address the incoming class. Kahn, a 1974 graduate of the WSU School of Medicine, is a cardiologist. After earning his medical degree and completing his residency, he returned to Saginaw, which at that time had only one part-time cardiac laboratory and no cardiac surgery. He fought for and brought to the area the balloon pump, modern pacemakers and outreach clinics. He worked to expand the cardiac lab and launched Saginaw's cardiac surgery program, including interventional and electrophysiology programs.

The ceremony is open to the media.

Founded in 1868, the Wayne State University School of Medicine is the largest single-campus medical school in the nation, with more than 1,000 medical students. In addition to undergraduate medical education, the school offers master's degree, Ph.D. and M.D.-Ph.D. programs in 14 areas of basic science to about 400 students annually.