White coat ceremonies mark rite of passage for ATSU students
Posted: July 23, 2009
Participating in the ASDOH, SOMA, and ASHS white coat and pinning ceremonies at the Mesa Arts Center are ATSU Associate Provost O.T. Wendel, Ph.D, Provost Craig M. Phelps, D.O., FAOASM, keynote speaker Thomas F. Curtin, M.D., and Assistant Provost Gary Cloud, Ph.D.
More than 300 A.T. Still University (ATSU) students crossed the stage at the Mesa Arts Center’s Ikeda Theater on July 20, in Mesa, Ariz., celebrating a new phase in their healthcare education journey.
In one day, four ATSU classes participated in three separate ceremonies. At 2 p.m., 68 members of the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health’s (ASDOH) incoming class of 2013 received their white coats. Then at 4 p.m., 107 members of the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona’s (SOMA) incoming class of 2013 received their white coats. At 6 p.m., the Arizona School of Health Sciences (ASHS) physician assistant program held a combined pinning ceremony for the 68-member class of 2010 and white coat ceremony for the 73-member incoming class of 2011.
Thomas F. Curtin, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president of clinical affairs for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), served as keynote speaker for all three ceremonies.
“This is an exciting time of change in medicine,” said Dr. Curtin. “We must find the way to navigate these new times. Medicine will need strong new leadership, and we look to you for this.”
“It was a great day for ATSU’s Arizona Campus as we welcomed SOMA and ASDOH’s classes of 2013 and the ASHS PA class of 2011, and celebrated the promotion of the ASHS PA class of 2010,” said ATSU Provost Craig M. Phelps, D.O., FAOASM.
“The comments by the deans and keynote speaker focused on the areas of success and leadership, traits that our students strive to embody every day,” he said. “We look forward to watching these students progress through their education and become competent, compassionate healthcare professionals.”
The white coat ceremony traditionally celebrates students’ entry into a health profession and recognizes students for reaching a milestone in their professional education. The physician assistant pinning ceremony marks the completion of students’ didactic year of study and entry into the clinical phase of the program.