Class of 2013 dons white coats

The Class of 2013 took a big step toward becoming pharmacists on April 6. In one of the highlights of the four-year PharmD program, they formally donned white coats, the symbol of the profession for which they are studying.

Each year, the White Coat Ceremony marks the beginning of a year of clinical rotations, hands-on training in a variety of settings.

Approximately 300 family, friends, faculty and staff attended the event at Centennial Hall on the UA campus. Jeannie Lee, assistant professor, served as the master of ceremonies.

After opening remarks by Lee and Dean J. Lyle Bootman, Dennis Worthen delivered the keynote address. Worthen is a Lloyd Scholar at the Lloyd Library and Museum, as well as an adjunct professor of history of pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy. He retired from Procter and Gamble Health Care as director of pharmacy affairs in 1999.  

In his address, Worthen urged the Class of 2013 to remember the first dean of the UA College of Pharmacy, Rufus Lyman. “Lyman,” said Worthen, “was an undisputed giant of pharmacy education in the first half of the 20^th century…. He agreed to become dean of the pharmacy school in Arizona because, as he said, ‘They are doing pioneering work in pharmacy in Arizona and I’m a pioneer at heart.’

“So,” continued Worthen to the class, “it is in your DNA to be pioneers. It is in your DNA to find new solutions…and to be ever vigilant to walk your professional talk.”

After the keynote address, John Murphy, associate dean, led the “coating” ceremony, in which faculty members selected by the class helped the students on with their white coats.

The class then took the Pharmacist’s Pledge of Professionalism. To wrap up the ceremony, Nathan Smith, representing the Class of 2013, made closing remarks.

“The white coat symbolizes unity,” Smith said. “We as a class have become a family…and today we join a larger family, the family of pharmacists.”

After the ceremony, attendees enjoyed a reception on the sunny plaza in front of Centennial Hall.