The College of Dentistry (CoD) at the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) celebrated the commencement of its first cohort of students of their practical clinical training at a “White Coat Ceremony” where the students donned their white laboratory coats for the first time, received their certificates, and took the profession’s oath of honor before AUIB President, Dr. Michael Mulnix, CoD Dean, Dr. Nada Naaman, and College faculty, in the presence of their proud parents.
President Mulnix addressed the crowd, congratulating the students for “choosing a career built on service,” and stressing the significance of these “rites of passage” in cementing a “contract for excellence, patient care, scholarship, and moral, ethical, and legal conduct.” He highlighted the well-rounded character of AUIB graduates, fostered by the University’s American-style, Liberal-Arts-based higher education, yielding “caring dentists,” in the case of the present cohort, with empathy, concern, and an understanding of patients’ issues at the basis of their practice.
Dr. Naaman thanked CoD’s faculty and staff for their “unwavering commitment and support,” leading to the present accomplishment by the College’s first cohort of students. She expressed her pride of the latter, promising them that AUIB’s new and soon-to-be inaugurated dental laboratories are “top of the line,” dedicated to supporting “the highest level of education and training” and contributing to the College’s “culture of excellence, collaboration, and research.”