to schools of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, osteopathic medicine, optometry, and nursing worldwide. Since starting in the US, several medical schools in countries outside of the United States (such as Iran, Israel, Canada, Dominican Republic, Brazil and Poland) have also started holding WCCs. The ceremony is no longer limited to medical students; starting in 1995, US pharmacy schools started holding WCCs, with the difference that most pharmacy students receive their coats at the end of their first academic year. In 2003 a survey found that the majority of US pharmacy schools hold WCCs. An Arnold P. Gold Foundation-sponsored version of the WCC, or a similar rite of passage, is currently used by 97 percent of Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)-accredited schools of medicine in the United States, and takes place at medical and osteopathic schools in 13 other countries. In December 2006 the first white coat ceremony was held by Fatima Jinnah Dental College (FJDC), in Karachi, Pakistan. In October 2008 the white coat ceremony was held at the VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, it was the first ceremony held in The Netherlands. In 2011 Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam also participated in holding the ceremony at their medical faculty. On October 13, 2010, the faculty of medicine at the University of Cologne, Germany, became the first German-speaking University to integrate this ritual into its programme. Initiated by then-student representative Hormos Salimi Dafsari in Cologne, the ceremony has been spread to various German cities such as Leipzig and Halle via channels of the German Medical Students' Association (bvmd). On April 12, 2010, the University of Queensland's (Australia) School of Pharmacy became the first in Australia to adopt the ceremony for its incoming Bachelor of Pharmacy students. On April 29, 2011, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was the first medical school in Poland, that has introduced the White Coat Ceremony. In September 2011, Jagiellonian University in Kraków became the first medical school in Poland to introduce a white coat ceremony for the incoming class. On February 28, 2011, the Faculty of Medicine at the Università del Piemonte Orientale "Amedeo Avogadro" in Novara became the first Italian medical school to introduce a white coat ceremony for its third-year students. On October 5, 2012, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Gr. T. POPA" of Iasi, Romania, became the first Romanian university to integrate this ritual, for