White Coat Ceremony Welcomes Future Physicians Dedicated to Compassion and Service

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School welcomed 165 students who make up the Class of 2030

When Jacob Labovitz donned his white coat for the first time on Friday, he started his medical school journey working to improve the lives of patients who suffer brain injuries—a poignant moment inspired by the tragic loss of his mother. 

Seven years ago, when he was 15, his mother died unexpectedly after suffering a stroke while returning to their home in Sunnyvale, Calif., from a family trip to Europe. She was 52.

“That experience has really guided my interests,” said Labovitz, 22, who is starting an eight-year M.D.-Ph.D. dual-degree program at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, which combines the clinical training of a medical doctor with the scientific research training of a doctoral degree. 

"I'm interested in neurocritical care and in understanding how we can better protect and repair the brain after stroke,’’ he said. “I want to combine research, clinical medicine and public health throughout my career."

Labovitz was one of 165 students in the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Class of 2030 who marked the beginning of their medical careers at the White Coat Ceremony, an annual rite of passage for more than 30 years. 

The students are starting their degrees during a time of growth, change and new opportunities in medical education at Rutgers. They are the first class to participate in orientation in the newly opened Health and Life Sciences Exchange (HELIX) building, in New Brunswick and received their white coats during a ceremony at the State Theater.

“As you put on your white coat today, wear it with humility, integrity and compassion,” Amy P. Murtha, dean of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, told the incoming class. “Let it remind you not only of what you are learning, but who you are becoming.”

New Jersey Medical School in Newark, which will hold its 2030 Class White Coat Ceremony in September, and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, are working toward a merger of the two schools into a single, statewide Rutgers School of Medicine, pending approval by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. 

“Medicine is more than a profession,” Murtha told the future physicians. “Every day, patients will entrust you with some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. There are few greater privileges than earning that trust.”

Before Labovitz arrived at Rutgers, he studied biomedical engineering at Boston University and volunteered with Camp Kesem, a national nonprofit that provides free summer camps for children whose parents have cancer. Labovitz said he understands how serious illness reshapes a child’s life.

The White Coat Ceremony, he said, represents the beginning of a commitment he has been working toward for years.

“It may be ceremonial, but it symbolizes everything you've worked for and the responsibility you're about to take on,” he said.

For Geana Marte, 24, her desire to become a physician began years ago when she went with her grandmother to medical appointments.

Raised in a Dominican immigrant family in Teaneck, N.J., Marte watched physicians in her grandmother’s Washington Heights community provide care that respected not only her medical conditions but her culture, language and circumstances.

“I realized there were differences in how we approached health care,” she said. “The physicians who took the time to understand my grandmother's background made all the difference.”

After earning both her bachelor's degree and a master's degree in epidemiology and clinical research at Stanford University, Marte spent her gap year working as a Spanish interpreter and medical assistant at Planned Parenthood. There she witnessed how patients often struggled with complicated social and financial challenges while seeking care.

Marte said she is glad to be coming home to New Jersey after spending several years in California. She chose Robert Wood Johnson Medical School because of its collaborative curriculum and emphasis on teamwork and wants to become a primary care doctor.

“I want to be close to my support system,” said Marte. “Medical school is challenging, and having family nearby is really important.” 

For Myera Mian, 24, the path to medicine wasn’t a direct one.

A Rutgers and Honors College graduate who grew up in East Brunswick, she double-majored in business analytics and information technology and cell biology and neuroscience. Her original goal was to combine business and health care.

After graduation in 2023, she worked as a consultant for a cloud software company, helping pharmaceutical companies manage submissions for new and existing drugs. Mian soon realized something was missing in her career.

“I loved health care,” she said. “But I wanted to be with patients, not behind the scenes.”

Mian, whose parents migrated from Pakistan before she was born, became interested in medicine after watching her family members battle cancer and other serious illnesses. But it wasn't until she entered the workforce that she became fully committed to becoming a physician.

"I couldn't let fear get in the way of what I really wanted to do," Mian said.

As the first person in her family to attend medical school, she also mentors aspiring students through an online study community followed by more than 10,000 people. She shares study strategies and advice to help others navigate a path she largely had to discover herself.

"I want people to know that studying doesn't have to feel overwhelming," said Mian, who wants to pursue pediatrics or dermatology. "If I can make the journey a little easier for someone else, that's important to me."

Murtha reminded students, who recited the Hippocratic Oath of medical ethics, that medicine is fundamentally about caring for people.

"Every day, patients will entrust you with some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. There are few greater privileges than earning that trust,” Murtha told the class. “Your patients may not remember every diagnosis you made or every treatment you recommended, but they will remember that you listened, showed compassion and made them feel seen."