2022 White Coat Ceremony to Feature Dr. Michael Hochman as Keynote Speaker

The Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is proud to announce that Dr. Michael Hochman, MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer at Healthcare in Action, will be the keynote speaker at the 2022 White Coat Ceremony to be held on Saturday, October 8 at 10 a.m. at the Garrison Theater in Claremont.

The ceremony will honor KGI’s Doctor of Pharmacy class of 2026, the inaugural Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies class of 2024, and the inaugural Occupational Therapy Doctorate class of 2025.

Hochman is a board-certified general internist and an active physician who provides care within Healthcare in Action. The organization provides care to older adults and other vulnerable individuals who experience homelessness.

“It is a profound honor to welcome Dr. Hochman as our White Coat Ceremony keynote speaker,” said KGI President Dr. Sheldon Schuster. “The impact of Healthcare in Action is being felt by individuals who otherwise wouldn’t have access to healthcare.”

“I know our students will benefit from his thoughts and reflections about their future professions and impact in healthcare.”

Hochman previously served as the inaugural director of the USC Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science and Innovation, the Medical Director for Innovation at AltaMed Health Services, and the Senior Health Deputy for LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

He attended Harvard Medical School, completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Cambridge Health Alliance, and was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Fellow at UCLA. As an instructor, Hochman has won several clinical teaching awards from Harvard Medical School and LAC+USC Medical Center.

Hochman has written on health topics for the Boston Globe and other publications and is the founding editor of the “50 Studies Every Doctor Should Know” book series, published by Oxford University Press.

KGI’s White Coat Ceremony is a momentous occasion for new students entering their respective fields. During the ceremony, colleagues already in the profession give each student a white coat, signifying the beginning of the student’s career in pharmacy, physician assistant, or occupational therapy. For students whose parents are in the profession, the white coat is given by that respective parent.

For more information about the 2022 White Coat Ceremony and to RSVP, visit kgi.edu/event/2022-wcc.