‘Learning is just beginning’ for second-year PA students

Members of the UF School of Physician Assistant Studies class of 2015 received their white coats in a ceremony June 6. Photo by Jesse S. Jones

Members of the UF School of Physician Assistant Studies class of 2015 received their white coats in a ceremony June 6. Photo by Jesse S. Jones

Members of the UF School of Physician Assistant Studies class of 2015 beamed as they donned their crisp coats during the annual white coat ceremony held June 6.

Family members and loved ones cheered from the seats of the HPNP Auditorium as the rising second-year students marked their transition from the classroom to clinical studies. The students completed their first year of academic studies and will continue on to their second year as hands-on learners.

“This is more than a crisp white coat. It symbolizes what lies ahead for you. It tests your readiness to enter a new phase of your career,” said Ralph Rice, DHSc, PA-C, associate dean and director of the School of Physician Assistant Studies in the College of Medicine. “There’s a tendency in some to see today as an end — a time to celebrate. Book learning is over, but the time for learning is just beginning.”

Sixty-one students put on their new white coats and took the Oath of Practice for Physician Assistants.

UF PA School class of 2003 graduate and faculty member, Elizabeth A. Brownlee, MPAS, PA-C, encouraged the students to “keep a little bit of courage” in the pocket of their new white coats as they move into an unknown future.

Stephanie Wordes, a member of the class of 2015, had to hold back tears after the ceremony.

“It’s a huge accomplishment in all of our lives,” she said. “This reflection really hits you. We’ve strived for it for the last year, and we’re halfway there.”

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