Hardin-Simmons Physician Assistant Program celebrates students in White Coat Ceremony

(ABILENE, Texas)–On Friday, Oct. 4, Hardin-Simmons University’s Physician Assistant (PA) Program honored its students’ success in the annual White Coat Ceremony in Logsdon Chapel. The ceremony celebrates and commemorates PA students’ entrance into the medical profession. The program invites family and friends to witness this momentous occasion in the students’ lives each year.

The White Coat Ceremony is a time-honored tradition in the medical field that marks the students’ transition from lectures and labs to clinical rotations, where they practice their medical skills in real-time. It marks the start of each student’s medical career. The crisp, white coat symbolizes the students’ dedication to providing compassionate and comprehensive patient care, as PA students learn to treat each patient as a person, not just as an illness.

President Eric Bruntmyer addresses the PA students during the White Coat Ceremony.

“For many of us, being able to put on the white coat resembles the light at the end of the tunnel. Many of us were traveling different paths before college and faced a variety of bumps in the road that made us think that we would never be where we are now. But in that moment, when we slide the white coat up our arms and feel it rest on our shoulders, we can proudly say ‘Momma, I made it!’,” said HSU alumna Regan Lee regarding receiving her white coat in 2017.

PA training is highly sought-after, and Hardin-Simmons’ program is expanding, with the new renovations to their classrooms and workspaces in Mabee Hall. The PA classrooms underwent a series of remodels during the summer of 2019, and they now feature state of the art technology. Each class now includes at least one flat-screen television, a point tilt zoom (PTZ) camera system to view and record lectures and student feedback, as well as to provide playback of all lectures and labs. Additionally, wireless technology has been upgraded throughout the building to increase the WIFI speed and quality.

“This renovation has taken our program to the next level. The students love the new space and find it incredibly more functional. It really has become their home away from home. This puts HSU in the top programs in the country, regarding our space,” says PA Program Director, Dr. Jennifer Eames.