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First-year students in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology in the College of Health Professions recite the Therapist's Oath during a white coat ceremony Aug. 16.
Image by Yavonda Chase
Audiology, Speech Pathology Students Don Their White Coats
| The Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology in the College of Health Professions bestowed white coats on members of the Classes of 2023 and 2021, respectively, during an Aug. 16 ceremony in the I. Dodd Wilson building.
Samuel Atcherson, Ph.D., professor of Audiology, helps a first-year student into her white coat.Image by Yavonda Chase
It was the second white coat ceremony for the Speech Pathology program, and the first one for either program since relocating to the UAMS campus. Previously, both programs had been housed at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock as part of a partnership between the two universities.
Over the summer, the Doctor of Audiology program and the Master of Science Communication Sciences and Disorders program moved to the UAMS campus. The Speech and Hearing Clinic is still located on the UA-Little Rock campus in the University Plaza, although it also will move to UAMS in 2020.
The nine new Audiology students and 20 new Communication Sciences and Disorders students were greeted by Laura Smith-Olinde, Ph.D., the new chair of the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology and director of the Audiology program; Betholyn Gentry, Ph.D., professor, co-director of the AR Consortium for the Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders and director of the Speech-Language Pathology program; and Samuel Atcherson, Ph.D., professor and outgoing director of the Audiology program.
Gentry encouraged the students “to balance the professional and personal sides of their lives, because fulfillment comes from both.”
The Communication Sciences and Disorders Class of 2021 received their white coats Aug. 16.Image by Yavonda Chase
She reminded the students that the white coat symbolizes clinical service and patient care.
“By accepting a white coat, you are making a commitment to transform yourself into a health care professional with integrity — a professional in whom patients place their trust,” she said.
She also shared six lessons she learned after 42 years as a speech-language pathologist:
- Don’t let life pass you by as you wait for it to happen — you’re living it now;
- Expect to face challenges, both large and small, in life and in graduate school;
- Realize you’re capable of overcoming more than you can ever imagine;
- Don’t burn any bridges because the field of speech-pathology is very small;
- Remember where you came from and give back;
- Appreciate all that you are and all that you have.
Atcherson noted that audiology and speech pathology are two peas in a pod. He said “audiologists are the primary health care professionals who evaluate, diagnose, treat, and manage hearing loss and balance disorders in adults and children.”
The Audiology Class of 2023 received their white coats in an Aug. 16 ceremony.Image by Yavonda Chase
They do so in a variety of ways, including by designing and implementing newborn hearing screening programs; prescribing, fitting and dispensing hearing aids and other amplification and hearing assistance technologies; working on cochlear implant teams; and more.
He noted that audiologists treat all ages, from infants to the elderly and everyone in between.
“Students, you have a very bright future ahead of you, and a broad scope of practice in which to be an audiologist,” he said. “Study hard, apply your knowledge, eat well, rest plenty, play and relax, make friends, network, become colleagues, advocate for your patients, and you will go far.”
Greg Robinson, Ph.D., associate professor, read the name of each student who then came forward to receive a white coat. After that, the students were lead in reciting the Therapist’s Oath.