On Saturday, August 25th, 2014, 32 students officially became Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) candidates, as the 3rd annual Doctor of Physical Therapy White Coat and Pinning Ceremony took place at Fresno State’s North Gym. This departmental tradition began with the implementation of the DPT program in 2012.
“The white coats that our doctoral students receive during this inspirational ceremony symbolize their entrance into the profession of physical therapy,” said Dr. Peggy Trueblood, chair of the department of physical therapy. “The students recite their professional oath that they developed as part of their orientation activities earlier in the week.”
University Administrators were in attendance to offer words of welcome and encouragement to the incoming DPT students. President Joseph I. Castro called the ceremony inspiring and hailed these group of students as impressive future leaders. Provost Lynette Zelezny was also on hand, as was College of Health and Human Services’ Interim Dean Jody Hironaka-Juteau.
Keynote speakers for the evening were Sandra Bausman, PT and Nancy Morrison-Larson, PT. Bausman and Morrison-Larson are 1979 graduates of the physical therapy program and together, co-own Creative Therapeutics Physical Therapy in Fresno. They pride their physical therapy treatment center as one that promotes healing and wellness in a compassionate and creative environment. They often work with undergraduate to doctorate level students, and were able to give sound advice to these future physical therapy leaders.
In addition to the white coat, the students receive a department pin which has the ‘lamp of learning’ engraved to symbolize the beginning of a profession of lifelong learning. On behalf of the Department of Physical Therapy and the College of Health and Human Services, we welcome the DPT class of 2017 to one of the most rewarding yet challenging professions in health care!
Thank You to the department of physical therapy for providing information and photos provided in this blog post. For more information on the physical therapy department, check out their webpage or follow them on facebook.
“Guided by integrity, life-long learning, and a commitment to comprehensive and accessible health programs for all people, physical therapists and physical therapist assistants will render evidence-based services throughout the continuum of care and improve quality of life for society.” ~ Vision statement of the American Physical Therapy Association.
The 32 class of 2017 DPT students are as follows:
- Alexandra Bachtelle
- Aaron Bae
- Brittney Bailey
- Kyle Baxter
- Carolyn Bentley
- Marissa Carranza
- Mario Crespin
- Joesph Fonseca
- Benjamin Fox
- Diana Joyner
- Melissa Lai
- Andrew Le
- Spencer Lee
- Michael Li
- Christian Lopez
- Megan Machado
- Joshua Madonick
- Melissa Miller
- Michelle Mitchell
- Karen Murata
- Caleb Pratt
- Jacqueline Romero
- Melissa Semas
- Andrea Staples
- Lucie Taba
- Mason Tregoning
- Courtney Williams
- MaryBeth Williams
- Colleen Wooten
- Anan Wu
- Jue Xie
- Justin Yun
These white coat ceremonies are actually a modern contrivance, not a hallowed tradition. However, they are a throwback to a previous era of medicine, where the practitioner assumed a “superior” role to the patient. Frankly, I wish we’d get rid of them.
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