Students receive white coats at recent ceremonies

College of Pharmacy students take their professional oath at the conclusion of their white coat ceremony.

Incoming medical, pharmacy and physician assistant students at UNMC recently received white coats as a symbol of their entry into their respective health professions.

The UNMC College of Pharmacy Alumni Association donated the white coats for pharmacy students, and COPAA President Kelli Coover, Pharm.D., presented the coats Aug. 21 to the 64 incoming students. The students, who began classes Aug. 26, are slated to earn their doctor of pharmacy degrees in the spring of 2006.

“By presenting the incoming students with the white coats, we welcome the students to the profession of pharmacy. We want to instill in them that their professional development begins now, not when they graduate in four years,” Dr. Coover said. “The white coats help the students acknowledge that they are in a profession in which they should be responsible, ethical and knowledgeable.”

First-year medical student Cody Evans with his wife Katie and son Cole.

On Aug. 23, 123 incoming medical students received their white coats during the UNMC College of Medicine’s white coat ceremony. Gerald Moore, M.D., associate dean for curriculum for the College of Medicine, presented the coats to the Class of 2006, who later enjoyed a reception sponsored by the College of Medicine Alumni Association.

“Your job is to do the best you can for that patient sitting across from you,” James Armitage, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine, told the new students. “You get to know people and interact with people…and you’ll be impressed by how brave and tough people are.”

Incoming physician assistant student Julie Whitesell receives best wishes from Mary Haven, associate dean of the School of Allied Health Professions, while James Somers, Ph.D., director of the physician assistant program, looks on.

On Aug. 28, the Physician Assistant Program held its third annual White Coat Ceremony, presenting coats to 40 new students. In his keynote address, John Ries told the incoming students that being a professional has a lot to do with what is inside of them, as well as how they present themselves.

Ries, a physician assistant in internal medicine at UNMC, encouraged students to look within themselves and determine who they want to be.