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Third Class of Physician Assistant Students Receive White Coats

June 11, 2015 | June 11, 2015 | Thirty-four students in the third class of the physician assistant program in the UAMS College of Health Professions received their white coats in a May 22 ceremony with guidance to see it as a symbol of joining the profession, becoming a servant of the sick and the need to find a good dry cleaner.

Two weeks into the 28-month master’s degree program, the students donned their white coats for the first time then recited the Physician Assistant Professional Oath. The students pledged to be ethical, responsible, compassionate and helpful to patients and their families. Then one by one they were coated by Patricia Kelly, Ph.D., PA-C, chair of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies and program director, and Edward Williams, M.P.A.S., M.Ed., PA-C, assistant professor.

“The path to serving others in health care is a journey, not a destination,” said keynote speaker Lee Wilbur, M.D., director of the UAMS Office of Interprofessional Education. “This is a lifelong journey that you are embarking on with this white coat and this oath.”

“This white coat is not a cloak of authority,” Murphy said. “Regard it as a sign of your role as an educated, compassionate servant and a pledge to the patients you treat that you will diagnose them responsibly and treat them as partners in care.”

Courtney Mosely, president of the Class of 2015 that will graduate in August, told the new students that the minute they put on the coat their role would change because they would be looked to for care, to listen to and keep in confidence patient information and become a representative of a profession that is still not well known in Arkansas. “Be a sponge” for the knowledge and skills taught in the program.

“And know that these coats are also sponges for dirt and grime, so get a good dry cleaner,” she said.

The students in the physician assistant Class of 2017:

Ashley Barksdale North Little Rock	Jennifer Goodwin Rogers	Rachel Neal The Woodlands, Texas
Amy Borota Greenwood	Samantha Gray North Little Rock	Aaron Parsley Rector
Alli Brooks Bentonville	Brittany Healey Lindale, Texas	Mira Patel Amory, Miss.
Anne Brown Havertown, Pa.	Haley Hobson Peaster, Texas	Emily Rideout Fort Smith
Mallory Burroughs Hot Springs	Cassidy Jacobs Fort Smith	Daniel Ring Cabot
Kyla Byers Springfield, Mo.	Tabitha Jaggers Sheridan	Christina Short Little Elm, Texas
Allen Childers Smackover	Jesse Klein Kirby	Kenneth Spencer Texarkana
Catherine Chumbley Athens, Ala.	Ashley Lunsford Dennison, Texas	Rachele Struthers Magnolia, Texas
Nirja Desai Clarksville	Tyler McAnally Melbourne	Sommer Walker Hope
Courteney Evans Ridgeland, Miss.	John McCormick Fayetteville	Ryland Walt Altheimer
Raven Falls Texarkana	Layne Miller Tulsa, Okla.	Wesley Wenzel Portland, Ore.
Byrun Fulk Bridgewater, Va.

The UAMS physician assistant program was established in 2011. Physician assistants are licensed medical providers who work with the supervision of a physician.