LEWISBURG — On August 27, 2011, five residents of Logan County donned white medical coats at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine’s 13th annual Convocation and White Coat Ceremony at the school in Lewisburg, West Virginia. The event symbolizes first-year students' welcome into the osteopathic medical profession and their journey to become physicians as they are donned with a white coat from esteemed doctors in the profession.

The five Logan County residents are Elston Johnson from Logan, a 2005 graduate of Logan High School and 2009 graduate of West Virginia University; Darby Mullen from Peck’s Mill, a 2007 graduate of Logan High School and 2011 graduate of Ohio University; Nicholas Meade from Man, a 2001 graduate of Man High School and 2010 graduate of Marshall University Graduate College; Michael Bledsoe from Chapmanville, a 2007 graduate of Chapmanville High School and 2011 graduate of Marshall University; and Ross Knowles from Chapmanville, a 2004 graduate of St. Andrew’s Sewanee School and 2010 graduate of Fairmont State University. These students began classes on August 1, and will continue their medical education in Lewisburg for two years before beginning two additional years of clinical rotations at various locations, primarily in rural areas.

The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) is one of 26 Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine in the United States, and the sole institution in the state of West Virginia granting a degree in Osteopathic Medicine. According to the school’s website, a recent study in the Journal of Academic Medicine ranks WVSOM as the highest ranking school in the United States in producing rural physicians. This study compliments WVSOM's 12th consecutive inclusion in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Graduate Schools" rankings. WVSOM was tied for 10th in rural medicine and tied for 11th in family medicine in the most recent rankings of all U.S. medical schools, both D.O. and M.D.

For more information or to watch the ceremony, you can visit www.wvsom.edu