View Larger Image After putting on their white coats, physician assistant students in the Class of 2025 recite the Professional Oath.
After putting on their white coats May 26, physician assistant students in the Class of 2025 recite the Professional Oath. Image by Bryan Clifton

Physician Assistant Class of 2025 Dons White Coats

By Ben Boulden

| Despite the speakers telling students about the long days of study and hard work ahead of them, a celebratory spirit was evident May 26 at the white coat ceremony for the physician assistant Class of 2025.

The ceremony represents a rite of passage as students enter the 28-month master’s degree physician assistant program that will prepare them to care for patients.

Chair of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies and program director, Edward Williams, DMSc, MPAS, PA-C, opened the ceremony and introduced UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA.

Edwards Williams, left, speaks at the start of the white coat ceremony for physician assistant students. The speakers seated are Chancellor Cam Patterson, left, Dean Susan Long, Ryan Toliver and Ada Sochanska.

Edwards Williams, left, speaks at the start of the white coat ceremony for physician assistant students. The speakers seated are Chancellor Cam Patterson, left, Dean Susan Long, Ryan Toliver and Ada Sochanska. Image by Bryan Clifton

“Physician assistants during the COVID-19 pandemic were an integral part of our health care work force,” Patterson said. “We would have been much worse off during the deep days of the pandemic were it not for the fact that we had people like you not just in Little Rock but also across the state in places where access is difficult. You are following in great footsteps.”

Physician assistants are licensed medical providers who work in collaboration with the supervision of a physician. They take patient medical histories, conduct physical exams, order diagnostic tests, diagnose medical conditions, write prescriptions, and manage acute illness and chronic disease. The UAMS program, established in 2011, is the first at a public university in Arkansas.

“I have three hopes for each of you,” College of Health Professions Dean Susan Long, Ed.D., said. “First, may you maintain an abiding regard for the highest standards of professional behavior. May you demonstrate the utmost respect for your patients and their families who have entrusted the care of their loved ones to you. And may you effortlessly show compassion for your patients, kindness and resolve to help others.”

Hundreds of family members, friends, faculty and staff in the audience watched as each of the 40 students in turn walked on to the auditorium stage and put on their white coat with the assistance of Williams and Audra Wilson, MS, PA-C, an assistant professor in the department.

Ryan Toliver, president of the physician assistant Class of 2023, congratulated the white coat recipients on becoming students in the program.

“No sugar coating, this will be the most challenging thing you have ever done,” Toliver said. “I want you to have confidence that you are where you are supposed to be at this moment.”

While he said he had faith they would make it through their coursework, Toliver urged them not to get discouraged when they suffer setbacks.

“Try your best and don’t worry too much about grades. What is important is passing,” he said. “Take care of yourself and your classmates. Self-care is important: rest, get good nutrition, hydrate and get some sunlight every day. Do something for yourself each day to keep yourself balanced.”

Ada Sochanska, MPAS, PA-C, delivered the keynote address. She graduated from the program in 2018 and is president of the Arkansas Academy of Physician Assistants.

In the last five years, Sochanska said she hasn’t had many occasions to reflect on what it meant for her to put on the white coat seven years ago. She likened it to how a firefighter’s gear almost instantly identifies them as a person there to help others.

“My house was one of the houses in the path of the March 31 tornado this year,” Sochanska said. “My family was really lucky. No one was home or injured, but our house was destroyed. In total shock at the event, standing in the street looking at what was left, I saw in the corner of my eye three firefighters coming by to check on my neighbors and anyone who was unaccounted for. Literally knocking down doors to get to people. The emotion of seeing them brought comfort and relief.”

Just before the conclusion of the ceremony, Nadja Vawryk Button, MHS, PA-C, led students in a recitation of the Professional Oath.

The students in the physician assistant Class of 2025 and their hometowns and states, if out of Arkansas, are:

 

  • Muhannad Abdin — Bentonville
  • Caroline Angell — Houston
  • Danial, Bairami-Mamaghani — Dallas
  • Monserrat Barrera-Ramirez — Little Rock
  • Kylee Beatty — Hallsville, Texas
  • Antony Best — Little Rock
  • Sarah Bodenhamer — Fayetteville
  • Sydney Casavechia — Sherwood
  • Owen Chenoweth — Conway
  • Kathleen Clements — Little Rock
  • Michael Connolly — Rogers
  • Deshawn Cooney — Cabot
  • Anna Crawford — Little Rock
  • Gracye Cureton — Cash
  • Caroline Davis — Van Buren
  • Chloe Deavens — Fayetteville
  • Macey Decker — Mountain View
  • Lauren Fuller — Little Rock
  • Celeste Garcia Dubon — Little Rock
  • Jaren Hernandez — Bentonville
  • Emmanuel Hervey — Little Rock
  • Kendall Holton — Bentonville
  • Tracy Hughes — El Paso
  • Allison Jenkins — Amarillo, Texas
  • Sabrina Leonard — Little Rock
  • Alexis Loyola Garcia — Fort Worth, Texas
  • Kane Malnar ­— Providence
  • Kayla Miller — Dardanelle
  • David Powell — Miami
  • Monica Ramos — Little Rock
  • Brylie Ritchie — Valdosta, Georgia
  • Emma Ross — Hot Springs
  • Samantha Stephens — Cabot
  • Alden Stockam — Peculiar, Missouri
  • Kate Turpin — Fayetteville
  • Grace West — Rison
  • Hannah West — Rogers
  • Delaney Willis — Paris, Texas
  • Kelly Witucki — Grand Forks, North Dakota
  • Adelynn Woerner — Benton