The photo above captures two experiences to treasure: first, the donning of a white coat; second, a child’s loving kiss. Two-year-old Katherine Rose Cloos planted a well-deserved wet one on her father, Michael Cloos, at the University’s White Coat Ceremony in August, under the fond gaze of his mother-in-law, Christine Asbury.
Cloos, who had worked as a professional engineer for six years “before making the very wise switch to medicine,” is a first-year student in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. His brother, Ryan Cloos, graduated from DMU in 2005 and is now a practicing orthopedic surgeon in Dubuque, IA. Michael’s wife, Carla Cloos, M.D., a University of Iowa medical graduate, recently finished her family medicine residency at Genesis Medical Center in Davenport, IA.
DMU initiated the White Coat Ceremony for first-year students in its osteopathic, podiatric, physical therapy and physician assistant programs more than 10 years ago. Students don their white jackets – 150 of the 386 total this year purchased for them by alumni and friends – as a class and also sign the University’s Professional Integrity Code.
“The White Coat Ceremony was a proud moment for my family and me,” Cloos says. “It represents all the hard work that it took to get to this point, and it is also a reminder of all the work that has yet to be done to become a practicing physician.”
