The School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Development Studies in Tamale has held its maiden White Coat ceremony at which 82 students were cloaked in white coats.

The white coat ceremony is a rite of passage for first-year medical students, marking an important step on their way to becoming doctors.

It marks the official start of their careers as medical students, and signifies the trust being bestowed on them to carry on with the noble tradition of doctoring.

A 10-member mentor committee from the chain of doctors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital has been formed to assist students through their years in the medical school.

Professor Francis Abantanga, Dean of Medical School and Health Sciences at the University, urged the students to be guided by dignity, nobility and humility which are the tenets of the White Coat.

He said the school would continue to instill medical ethics into the students before graduation to ensure they do not flout the Medical Code of Ethics in their practice.

President of the Medical Students Association, Yvonne Martha Lutherrodt, underscored the need essence of the White Coat ceremony, saying it is "a motivation for students to thrive and enhance a smooth transition from preclinical to clinical by students".