Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Every year before the White Coat Ceremony, our incoming DVM students experience Prologue—a week that transitions them from admission into the academic and professional life of veterinary medicine.
In Prologue, students build the skills and relationships they will need throughout the four-year program. Activities introduce the curriculum, school resources and expectations while using activities to build communication, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking, conflict and stress management, professional conduct, and personal well-being.
If Prologue helps to form their identities as veterinarians, the White Coat Ceremony cements it. Held in the grand interior of the campus’s Mondavi Center, the students, with their families and friends, hear inspiring speeches before donning their clinical white coat and taking the veterinary student oath. It is the moment when they first accept the great responsibility of being a veterinarian.
Among our 155 new students, you'll find a range of experiences as diverse as they are: veterinary internships across four continents, first-generation students becoming the first doctors in their families, fluency in languages from Swahili to Chinese to Scottish Gaelic, and passions that range from beekeeping and bodybuilding to fantasy writing and world travel.
In this Minute with Mark episode, you'll meet two of them: Kiki Raj, a student on the small animal track, and Brandon Catalano, who is on the large animal track. You, too, can experience the joy and apprehension they are feeling as they begin their veterinary journey.
Relive the excitement from White Coat Ceremony: www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/welcome-class-2030
#UCDavisVetMed | #ClassOf2030 | #AMinuteWithMark
Video description: Dean Mark Stetter sits with students Kiki and Brandon as they talk about their career goals and the excitement and nerves of starting veterinary school. The three smile and chat together, with footage of Class of 2030 students participating in Prologue activities and the White Coat Ceremony interspersed throughout. Students are shown interacting with one another during and later gathered with their classmates at the Mondavi Center, where they receive their white coats.
Every year before the White Coat Ceremony, our incoming DVM students experience Prologue—a week that transitions them from admission into the academic and professional life of veterinary medicine.
In Prologue, students build the skills and relationships they will need throughout the four-year program. Activities introduce the curriculum, school resources and expectations while using activities to build communication, teamwork, leadership, critical thinking, conflict and stress management, professional conduct, and personal well-being.
If Prologue helps to form their identities as veterinarians, the White Coat Ceremony cements it. Held in the grand interior of the campus’s Mondavi Center, the students, with their families and friends, hear inspiring speeches before donning their clinical white coat and taking the veterinary student oath. It is the moment when they first accept the great responsibility of being a veterinarian.
Among our 155 new students, you'll find a range of experiences as diverse as they are: veterinary internships across four continents, first-generation students becoming the first doctors in their families, fluency in languages from Swahili to Chinese to Scottish Gaelic, and passions that range from beekeeping and bodybuilding to fantasy writing and world travel.
In this Minute with Mark episode, you'll meet two of them: Kiki Raj, a student on the small animal track, and Brandon Catalano, who is on the large animal track. You, too, can experience the joy and apprehension they are feeling as they begin their veterinary journey.
Relive the excitement from White Coat Ceremony: www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/welcome-class-2030
#UCDavisVetMed | #ClassOf2030 | #AMinuteWithMark
Video description: Dean Mark Stetter sits with students Kiki and Brandon as they talk about their career goals and the excitement and nerves of starting veterinary school. The three smile and chat together, with footage of Class of 2030 students participating in Prologue activities and the White Coat Ceremony interspersed throughout. Students are shown interacting with one another during and later gathered with their classmates at the Mondavi Center, where they receive their white coats.
![Mondays with Mark: September 2023 [Agricultural Edition]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4PFlf-Bx1-4/mqdefault.jpg "Mondays with Mark: September 2023 [Agricultural Edition]
September is harvest time, which turns my thoughts to how the school supports agriculture in California. Every day, hundreds of people at the school, including more than 50 faculty, work to keep crops free of animal-borne illnesses, protect the health of food animals, monitor for diseases, provide critical information and training, and perform other actions to help everyone from backyard farmers to major agricultural producers. Our mission covers everything from chickens, goats, dairy, and cattle, to even organic crops.
In this episode, you’ll get a taste of the incredible scope of what we do and see how we are incorporating new methods like predictive modeling and social media monitoring to keep domestic and wild creatures and humans safe—all while educating our next generation of veterinarians and scientists. Learn more about how we work with the agriculture industry at www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ag
Visit the Mondays with Mark page on our website:
www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/mondays-with-mark Disclaimer: This video was produced before 2025 and may not meet current accessibility standards. These materials are not actively maintained. If you experience difficulty accessing this content or require it in an alternative format, please contact svmcommunications@ucdavis.edu")
