Nine Audiology Students Honored at Capstone Celebration
| Nine Audiology students received their white coats during an April 6 ceremony honoring their clinical and academic achievements.
The annual Capstone Celebration is designed to honor third-year Doctor of Audiology students as they transition from their academic and practicum experiences to their full-time externships in their fourth year.
“The Capstone Celebration is the culmination of our students’ academic career before they leave and begin their clinical externships,” said Amyn Amlani, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. “We are here to honor their remarkable achievements as well as to thank their families and friends who provided much-needed support to the students in this program.”
Susan Long, Ed.D., dean of the College of Health Professions, told the students it is up to each of them to decide who they will be when they wear the white coat.
“As an audiologist, you will dedicate yourself to the art of helping others capture those moments that, for them, have been to that point in time, unnoticed, unrecognized and unheard,” she said. “May your white coat serve as a constant reminder to strive to retain those humanistic qualities of integrity, respect and compassion that constitute the essence of professionalism.”
Faculty from the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology participated in the ceremony.
“I am so proud of these students,” said Samuel Atcherson, Ph.D., professor and director of the Audiology program. “Earning a Doctor of Audiology is no small feat, and these students have excelled in their coursework and clinical experiences these first three years. I am confident that they will continue to excel in their fourth-year externships.”
The Doctor of Audiology program is a consortium between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The program is housed in the College of Health Professions at UAMS and the College of Education and Health Professions at UA-Little Rock.
The students receiving their white coats were:
- Jordan Barnes
- McKenzie Csonka
- Erica Suzanne Gardner
- Hsin-Wei Huang
- Tia C. McDonald
- Meredith A. Olmstead
- Meryl O. Gyger
- Breanne M. Witherspoon
- Desiree Wood