Topics: Academics Students

    Penn Vet’s Class of 2028 Celebrates White Coat Day

    September 1, 2026
    By: Rita Giordano
    Group of students in white clinician coats and formal outfits standing on a stage for a school ceremony, with a red banner behind them reading “SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.”

    Penn Vet’s Class of 2028 is now officially clinic-ready.

    Last Friday, the 131 third-year students took part in one of the veterinary school’s most beloved and meaningful transition events – White Coat Day. It is the ceremony in which each year a new cohort of students mark their advance from classroom learning to clinical practice, putting what they’ve learned, and will continue to learn, into use caring for animals. With family and friends cheering them on, each of the students received their own personalized clinician’s white coat.

    Students in white lab coats stand on stage in front of a large University of Pennsylvania banner, smiling and cheering.
    A student in a red dress stands at the front of a stage holding a folded up lab coat. Other students sitting on the stage in chairs are visible behind her.
    a student walks across a stage waving at the audiance with a folded up lab coat in her hand
    A group of students in white lab coats seated on stage during a formal event.
    On August 28, 131 third-year veterinary students receive their white coats.

    A distinguished group of speakers were on hand to inspire and celebrate all those moving up. Those speakers were Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine Andrew M. Hoffman; Elizabeth Woodward, clinical associate professor in the department of Biomedical Sciences and winner of this year’s Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence by Non-Standing Faculty; Rose Nolen-Walston, associate professor of large animal internal medicine and an award-winning educator; and John McCauley, V’92, winner of this year’s Penn Vet Alumni Award of Merit and a specialist in feline medicine. Megan McCarthy, V’28 class president, gave a welcome address. Ned Maguire, V’28, SAVMA president, delivered classmate’s reflections, casting a look back at the last two years of instructional learning before stepping into what’s next.

    A woman stands behind a wooden podium on a dark stage. On her left hand she wears a shoulder length veterinary exam glove.
    Rose Nolen-Walston
    A student in a white lab coat stands behind a wooden podium on a stage. Beside him other students in white coats are seated in rows on the stage.
    Ned Maguire, V’28
    A man stands behind a wooden podium on a dark stage. Behind him veterinary students in white lab coats are seated on the stage in rows.
    John McCauley, V’92
    A speaker in a light dress stands on a stage at a wooden podium with a microphone. People are seen seated on the stage behind her.
    Elizabeth Woodward
    Speakers inspire and celebrate V’28’s milestone achievement.
    A man in a suit stands in front of a wooden podium on a dark stage strumming a ukulele
    Rows of veterinary students sit on a dark stage. To the right a man in a suit stands behind a wooden podium.
    Dean Andrew Hoffman addresses V’28 and strums an encouraging melody.

    And in the moment everyone waits for, the new clinicians donned their white coats.

    Around 130 veterinary students stand on a dark stage putting on their white lab coats
    Penn Vet’s Class of 2028 puts on their white coats.
    In a pig barn, a worker in a red shirt and blue overalls walks among several large pigs in a straw-filled pen while another person in a purple shirt throws a bale of hay into the pen.

    Penn Vet’s Swine Teaching and Research Center Celebrates 25 Years of Inspiring Careers and Creating Positive Change

    Twenty-five years ago, the Center’s founders set out to build the barn of the future. Today, it has exceeded their wildest dreams.

    Large group photo of many people wearing matching white T-shirts, posed outdoors on a paved walkway with trees and academic buildings in the background.

    Welcome to the Penn Vet Class of 2030!

    Penn Vet’s newest class of veterinary students are here, bringing with them a diversity of backgrounds and medical interests

    Person crouches on a rocky shoreline, examining and collecting items from tide-washed stones near the ocean under a cloudy sky.

    New One Campus, One Health Certificate Program will Prepare the Next Generation of One Health Leaders

    New certificate equips Penn graduate and professional students with the skills to work across disciplines to improve human, animal, and environmental health.

    About Penn Vet

    Ranked among the top ten veterinary schools worldwide, the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) is a global leader in veterinary education, research, and clinical care. Founded in 1884, Penn Vet is the first veterinary school developed in association with a medical school. The school is a proud member of the One Health initiative, linking human, animal, and environmental health.

    Penn Vet serves a diverse population of animals at its two campuses, which include extensive diagnostic and research laboratories. Ryan Hospital in Philadelphia provides care for dogs, cats, and other domestic/companion animals, handling more than 30,000 patient visits a year. New Bolton Center, Penn Vet’s large-animal hospital on nearly 700 acres in rural Kennett Square, PA, cares for horses and livestock/farm animals. The hospital handles more than 6,300 patient visits a year, while our Field Services have gone out on more than 5,500 farm service calls, treating some 22,400 patients at local farms. In addition, New Bolton Center’s campus includes a swine center, working dairy, and poultry unit that provide valuable research for the agriculture industry.