Diverse College of Pharmacy Class of 2024 Dons White Coats
| The UAMS College of Pharmacy Class of 2024 donned white coats Sept. 5 in a virtual ceremony that still honored the right of passage signifying a pharmacy student’s transition into the life of a student-pharmacist.
This year’s annual White Coat Ceremony, had one of the highest percentages of underrepresented minorities in the college’s history, nearly 20 percent.
College of Pharmacy Dean Cindy Stowe addresses students and families listening in and participating in the Class of 2024 Virtual White Coat Ceremony.
“You reflect UAMS’ intention to graduate learners who will reflect the populations they serve,” said Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., UAMS provost, senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and chief strategy officer.
Gardner addressed the new class of 89 pharmacy students in a recorded video message.
“You also start this journey during a global pandemic, the likes of which we haven’t known in a century. Your experience will continue to be impacted by COVID-19, and health care delivery will be changed by it in ways we don’t yet know. You will be at the forefront of those changes.”
Public health and safety considerations resulting from the COVID-19 global pandemic led the College to conduct the ceremony virtually. College of Pharmacy Dean Cindy Stowe, Pharm.D., and the college’s faculty invited students to participate remotely in the ceremony via a live, streaming video event.
Stowe and a small group of college faculty, masked and socially distanced, gathered in the Smith Auditorium to speak and watch as the students were assisted by family and friends in putting on their white coats.
Early in the ceremony, Stowe complimented the new class of students on their passionate commitment and high ideals.
First-year pharmacy student Barry Powers smiles after donning his white coat and reaches down to turn off his camera for the Virtual White Coat Ceremony to proceed to the next student.
“Class of 2024, you are entering the profession at a unique time, a transformational time,” Stowe said from the auditorium. “I observe a commitment to addressing some of our greatest challenges, inequities and injustices in health care outcomes more related to zip code than genetics. Your generation has greater emphasis on inclusivity, awareness of and concern for economic disparities.”
Keynote speaker Mary Bradley, Pharm.D., a graduate of the college’s Class of 2018, urged the class to be open to their future experiences in patient care. She said those experiences will only deepen their understanding of the profession and push them to overcome challenges.
“You will learn the depths of your humanity, and then you will look to your motivator because the next thing you learn may save someone’s life,” Bradley said. “I ask you to make sure your motivator is something that makes you come alive because this world doesn’t need just another pharmacist. Know what inspires you that you can use for the good of your patient. Stay strong, end strong and come alive.”
Mary Bradley, College of Pharmacy Class of 2018, was the keynote speaker at the White Coat Ceremony.
Bradley recounted the story of a 68-year-old patient, who had been badly injured in a traffic accident. She said he taught her how to maintain a sense of humor at the worst of times and how to strive to do better and be better. That patient also was her stepfather, and Bradley said she tries to value each patient like a family member.
Caring for a female patient with a blood infection that had spread to her heart valves and spine caused Bradley to fall back on one of the many skills she acquired as a pharmacy student at UAMS – doing a literature search for the latest, best treatments and therapies that might benefit the woman. Her findings benefitted her patient, and the woman soon recovered enough to be discharged from the intensive care unit she was in and return to an active life.
Finally, she treated a patient, a former Marine with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. The man was intubated and ventilated and in considerable pain. Bradley said she had to muster the courage to speak up to the physician overseeing his care and advocate for the patient to see that his pain also was treated. Again, she drew on her education and experience at UAMS. Bradley said she was “beyond grateful” for the interprofessional patient care simulations she did with other students and for the critical care section of her pharmacotherapy course.
Lanita White, assistant dean for student affairs, closes out the White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2024.
“What I learned from this patient is the importance of teamwork with other health care providers for the good of the patient,” she said. “I also learned the importance of advocating for your patient no matter how uncomfortable it might be; and the importance of all the hours I spent studying while in pharmacy school because on the receiving end is a patient who needs a compassionate and well-versed pharmacist.”
Sponsored by the Arkansas Pharmacists Association (APA), it was the college’s 18th annual White Coat Ceremony. Representing the APA at the ceremony was John Vinson, Pharm. D., the association’s executive vice president and CEO.
After Bradley finished her keynote address, the students in the Class of 2024 one by one appeared on a large projection screen in the auditorium. Most of them assisted by friends and family in their homes donned their white coats to mark symbolically the beginning of their four years of study.
Ashlyn Tedder, president of the UAMS American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists, led the students in reciting the Student Pledge of Professionalism.
Lanita White, Pharm.D., the college’s assistant dean for student affairs, organized the virtual White Coat Ceremony along with help from faculty and staff. She formally closed out the ceremony with congratulations to the new students and thanks to everyone who took part and helped.