On September 19, the UC Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences hosted the 2025 White Coat Ceremony, welcoming a new class to the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program.
The White Coat Ceremony at UC Irvine is an annual event that commemorates the year’s student pharmacist cohort joining the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. It is a celebration of the hard work it took for each student to get to that point in their academic journey and marks the beginning of their next chapters.
“The White Coat you will receive today represents your devotion to the pursuit of pharmacy education, your promise to care for patients, and your pledge to uphold the ‘Oath of a Pharmacist,’” said Founding Dean Jan Hirsch in her opening remarks.
This year’s White Coat Ceremony is the first to follow the full accreditation of the UC Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences’ PharmD program. In May, the inaugural class graduated, and the program was accredited shortly thereafter.
Seventy-six percent of student pharmacists in this year’s cohort attended UC Irvine or another University of California campus for their undergraduate education. Approximately 35% of the class is first-generation college students, with 70% speaking a second language. The cohort also includes a set of twins and a former chemist who is pursuing pharmacy as a second career.
At the event, Founding Associate Dean of Pharmacy Student Affairs Megan Nguyen provided welcome remarks and announced the presentation of White Coats. Dr. Loriann De Martini, CEO of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP), served as the event’s keynote speaker, and Nareh Nowrouzi, alumna of the inaugural student pharmacist cohort at UC Irvine and pharmacy resident with Express Scripts, provided congratulatory remarks. Dr. Mahtab Jafari led the auditorium in the “Oath of a Pharmacist.”
Dean Hirsch concluded the ceremony with a celebratory speech and showed everyone how to do the Anteater “Zot, Zot, Zot.”
“Our entire School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences community is behind you as you begin your path to becoming a student pharmacist,” she said to the new class. “We cannot wait to see everything you will accomplish during your time here.”
You can view photos of the 2025 White Coat Ceremony here.
