Respiratory Care Students Celebrated at Department’s First White Coat Ceremony
| Students in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Health Professions Department of Respiratory Care marked a major transition into clinical practice during the department’s inaugural white coat ceremony.
The Oct. 8 event recognized second-year students who have completed more than half of their 800-plus required clinical rotation hours, alongside a first-year cohort preparing to begin direct patient care rotations within days. UAMS is the first institution in Arkansas — and among only a few nationwide — to hold a white coat ceremony specifically for respiratory care students.
Tonya Cook, M.Ed., RRT, the program’s director of clinical education and a 1996 graduate of the program, opened the ceremony by highlighting the symbolic importance of the white coat as students move from the classroom to bedside patient care.
“Now, I have to share with you that I am a little jealous,” Cook said. “I earned an opportunity in a profession that is compassionate, ethical, and gives me lifelong learning. And for that reason, and many others, I am so excited for you.”
College of Health Professions Dean Susan Long, Ed.D., said the students should view the presentation of the coat as a formal initiation into healthcare service and an opportunity to make a commitment to strong professional ethics.
“I know you realize that being a healthcare provider is an absolute privilege, and it comes with tremendous responsibility to your patients, to their families, to the community, and to your profession,” Long said.
She urged students to consistently strive to be the empathetic, highly trained providers their patients hope to see.
Tom Jones, Ed.D., department chair, program director, and associate professor, focused in his remarks on what he termed the “white coat shift”—a personal and mindset change from viewing healthcare as an outsider to taking ownership as part of an interprofessional rapid-response team.
Jones said the pedigree of the program was a high one, citing its American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) APEX designation, awarded to less than 5% of programs nationally, and its 17-year streak of maintaining a greater than 90% credentialing exam pass rate.
Recalling the birth of his grandson, who required critical care, Jones said patients place enormous trust in clinicians during moments when they feel very vulnerable emotionally.
“Some time ago, I sat in the waiting room while my daughter had a baby,” he said. “A baby with severe congenital heart, gastric, pulmonary, and potential neurologic defects. And I watched one of my students walk past me into the delivery suite. The therapist and student didn’t know that I was there for the birth of my grandson, but I knew the student was there, and that my grandson would be in their care, not mine.”
Jones said that’s one reason why students should wear their white coats with pride.
“You should feel the weight of the responsibility and the honor of caring for someone else’s family, just as you would have them care for yours, because it’s more than a white coat,” Jones said.
Faculty members Kendra McCraney, MBA, MHA, RRT, and Matt Simoncavage, B.A., RRT, assisted the students in putting on their white coats across all student cohorts.
Following the ceremony, Jones led the students in the Chairman’s Charge, where they pledged to uphold program excellence, serve as practitioners of influence, and lead the profession within the community.
Cook closed the ceremony by expressing gratitude to the college leadership, clinical partner hospitals across the state, staff organizers, and families who traveled from across Arkansas and states as far as California and Texas to support the students.
The students who received their white coats were:
Second-Year Bachelor of Science Students
- Evan Chism
- Jalaiya Collins
- Jasmine Delgado
- Stephanie Salvatori
- Soprana Spears
- A’Niyah Stewart
- Julian Wilson
Second-Year Master of Science
- Alisha Brown
- Caitlynn Ivey
- Jared Pineau
- Bailey Tatum
Second-Year Part-Time Bachelor of Science
- Kaylee Hays
- Siby Hill
First-Year Bachelor of Science
- Alona Alston
- Ussama Athar
- Noor Bin Homam
- Miracle Brittenum
- Lydia Bullock
- Gustavo Cortes
- Bradley Johnson
- Chamya Moore
- Jacinda Perry
- Kara Peterson
- Vanessa Vega
First-Year Master of Science
- Zane Austin
- Robert Bumpers
- Kennedi Catron
- Taylar Gaston
- Patrick Horton
- David Hussey
- Signe Murray
- Arianna Slack