The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine held its 14th annual White Coat Ceremony Thursday at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Physicians presented white coats — the symbolic mantle of the medical profession — to the college’s first-year students. The first White Coat Ceremony was held at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1993. The rite of passage has quickly become a tradition at most schools of medicine in the United States, according to UNE.