The USF College of Pharmacy recognized 101 new members into the profession.

The USF College of Pharmacy welcomed 101 new members into the pharmacy profession during their seventh annual white coat ceremony. The ceremony, held Sept. 22 at the Marshall Student Center’s ballroom, is a traditional rite of passage for many first-year students throughout USF Health who will learn alongside each other as health care teams of the future.

“Receipt of your first white coat is a very personal and special occasion,” said Amy Schwartz, PharmD, associate dean of Academic Affairs, who guided the ceremony. “The coat provides a sense of confidence and immediate awareness of the associated professional obligations, responsibilities and accountability.”

Bright-eyed and smiling, students filled the center aisle of the ballroom as they walked on stage to take their seats.

“You feel like you’re becoming a doctor,” said Farah Abdeen, a PharmD student in the Class of 2021, who led the procession of students into the ballroom. “I’m excited to have the faculty recognize and welcome me.”

Families holding flowers or cellphones pointed at the stage watched and learned about the future roles students will grow into within the coming years.

“Teamwork in health care has never been greater and that’s what USF Health is all about,” said Edmund Funai, MD, chief operating officer for USF Health and senior vice president for Strategic Development for USF System. “Since medications touch virtually all aspects of health care and as demand increases, you will provide services that extend well beyond the traditional roles of the pharmacy profession.”

Dr. Funai’s theme of team work carried on throughout his remarks. He thanked Kevin Sneed, PharmD, founding dean of the College of Pharmacy and senior associate vice president for USF Health, along with the pharmacy faculty, staff and students for “going above and beyond the call of duty to serve people and communities in need before, during and after Hurricane Irma.”

Edmund Funai, MD, chief operating officer for USF Health and senior vice president for Strategic Development for USF System, spoke during the ceremony about team work.

Dr. Funai also thanked donors of the White Coat Scholarship Fund, who helped raise more than $21,000. A significant portion, $10,000, was received by Tampa General Hospital, USF Health’s primary teaching affiliate. “Our futures are inextricably linked,” said Dr. Funai about the strong community partnerships that help support and student scholarships.

The USF College of Pharmacy was cited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a leading force in driving interdisciplinary pharmacy education and continues to attract students with high Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) scores. Along with the other USF Health Colleges of Nursing, Medicine, Public Health, and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the College of Pharmacy’s mission is to revolutionize health with interprofessional education.

Since its inception, the college has lead with innovated ideas in personalized medicine, pharmacogenomics, geriatrics and informatics as its main pillars. Nearly 10 years ago, Dr. Sneed ambitiously drafted the application to start the College of Pharmacy.

“I dreamed of what health care would be like in 2020 and beyond, and what role would pharmacists play,” Dr. Sneed said. “With this entering class I remain more convinced than ever that not only will we achieve those dreams, but they will be even better because of our collective efforts.”

Kevin Sneed, PharmD, founding dean USF College of Pharmacy took his traditional selfie with the Class of 2021.

Dr. Sneed spoke about heath equity and urged the class of 2021 to remain focused on becoming the best health care clinician possible and not to be swept away in the 24-hour news cycle.

“I do believe that ultimately health care is a right that we all have,” Dr. Sneed said, “and it is our job to help them be the very best that they can be.”

The ceremony’s key note speaker was Robert J. Weber, RPh, PharmD, MS, BCPS, FASHP, FNAP, assistant dean for Medical Center Affairs at Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy and administrator for pharmacy services at the Wexner Medical Center.

“You are now a member of our esteemed and most trusted profession,” began Dr. Weber, “The symbol of arriving on the professional scene as a trusted future pharmacist is your white coat.”

Students anxiously held their neatly folded white coats on their laps and listened.

Dr. Weber asked students to remember the family, friends, personal mentors and pharmacists that helped them reach this point of their careers such as those before them “Your profession is the most trusted because of those pharmacists who have come before you and worked hard to hold its credibility.”

Robert J. Weber, RPh, PharmD, MS, BCPS was the keynote speaker for the ceremony.

Dr. Weber’s titled his remarks A Time to Be Flexible. “Along with the prestige of a white coat comes the responsibility to be flexible and to adapt to the changing needs of our patients,” Dr. Weber said.

Students were asked to reflect on their education and their experiences today to help their patients tomorrow.   “The successful pharmacist is one who can adapt to any situation in a positive way,” he added.

Faculty members then stepped onto the stage in pairs to help students put on their very first white coat. Then the Oath of Professionalism was led by Angela Hill, PharmD, BCPP, professor and chair of Pharmacotherapeutics and Clinical Research and associate dean of clinical affairs for USF College of Pharmacy.

Newly coated Doctoral of Pharmacy students took the Oath of Professionalism.

The evening ended with 101 newly committed pharmacy students alongside their strongest supporters who, throughout the evening’s remarks, had an invigorating view of what the future of pharmacy will be.

Story by Sandra C. Roa, photos by Eric Younghans, USF Communications and Marketing.

For Bianca Arboleda, who was born in Florida and raised in Puerto Rico, getting into medical school was quite the journey.

Arboleda, who wants to become an obstetrics and gynecology doctor, faced many cultural and language barriers before coming to USF. But, she never gave up.

“I always knew I wanted to become a doctor,” Arboleda said. “So, I am beyond grateful to be an MD student at USF. Every obstacle I encountered along the way, gave me the courage to do better and study harder to make my dream a reality.”

Bianca Arboleda receives her white coat.

Arboleda was one of 173 medical students to take the oath of commitment and receive the coveted white coat in front of families, friends, guests and USF Health leaders – marking the beginning of a remarkable journey into the MD program at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM).

Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, poses with a group of students from Class of 2021.

The White Coat Ceremony, held this year on Sept. 1 at the Tampa Convention Center, is an annual event that welcomes students to the prestigious MD program at USF Health MCOM.

“This is a surreal experience, I’m in medical school,” said Cannon Nelson, who came to USF from Salt Lake City, Utah, and wants to become a pediatric neurosurgeon. “To us, the white coat is the symbol of transition, responsibility and commitment to a greater cause that’s bigger than any of us. It took a lot of work to get here, so being a part of this event today makes it all worth it.”

Cannon Nelson, student in the Class of 2021, is excited to celebrate the big day with his entire family, who flew in from Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Class of 2021 brought in the most selective medical student cohort in the history of the program — with an average MCAT score of 514 — placing it among the top 25 of all medical schools in the country.

This group of students was selected among more than 6,400 applicants – also a record number — giving them a less than three percent chance of getting into the program.

“It feels absolutely amazing to be among such a talented group of students,” said Katie Reming, student from the class of 2021, who wants to go into internal medicine. “No matter how challenging the road ahead may be, I feel so incredibly grateful for this opportunity and to be surrounded by such supportive faculty, staff and fellow students.”

During the event, Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, welcomed the students to the MD program with an inspirational speech about the future of health care and the challenges the field faces ahead.

Dr. Lockwood speaks to students, families and guests. 

“The future of our nation’s health care belongs to those who are unafraid to challenge the status quo, unafraid to think deeply about problems and unafraid to embrace change,” Dr. Lockwood said. “Decades from now, when people look back on this time in health care, my hope is it will be said of all of you that you were the forward-thinking generation of physicians who did not postpone addressing these great challenges – you embraced them. Your generation leveraged tools such as precision medicine, the mining of ‘big data’, cutting edge tissue imaging, and telehealth to improve health while lowering costs.”

This year, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Scholarship Fund –the beneficiary of funds raised to sponsor the white coats — was the most successful and largest white coat sponsorship program of all medical schools in the U.S., raising more than $100,000 towards the Class of 2021 scholarships.

“I’d like to thank our faculty, staff, alumni and members of the MCOM Alumni Society Board for their unwavering support in sponsoring white coats for this year’s class,” Dr. Lockwood said. “We are committed to increasing scholarship funding and I’m deeply grateful to all of you who have donated to our White Coat Scholarship fund – you are supporting an amazing group of students.”

Offering the keynote address was Sion “Bill” Carter, MD ’87, chair of the MCOM Alumni Society, who told the new students “The white coat you receive today welcomes you into the community of medicine and signifies your commitment to the long road of training ahead. But most importantly, this ceremony is meant to emphasize the humanistic side of medicine at a time when headwinds can dehumanize its practice.”

Sion “Bill” Carter, MD ’87, chair of the MCOM Alumni Society, gave the keynote address at the event.

City of Tampa Mayor, Bob Buckhorn spoke to the new students during the ceremony and welcomed them to the city of Tampa.

City of Tampa Mayor, Bob Buckhorn.

“This is an exciting time for USF, an exciting time for Tampa and an exciting time for all these young people,” Mayor Buckhorn told the crowd. “This is a city that’s risen from the worst recession since the Great Depression. This is the city of hope, the city of destiny and a city where young people are flocking to. For those of you who will spend four years with us, you are in the midst and part of an amazing renaissance American city. We want you to make Tampa your home when you complete this journey. I promise you this that you’re going to learn to love this place.”

Rose Tillis, a current fourth-year medical student and president of the MCOM student council, spoke to the new students about humanism in medicine and the responsibility of wearing the white coat.

“All of you have a gift,” Tillis said. “It’s a gift of intellect, compassion, motivation and determination, and a decent amount of stubbornness. That’s how you got here. But that gift comes with the responsibility to give back. And that’s what you’ll learn while you’re here. You have the ability to change the trajectory of your patients’ lives, just by walking with them in the hallway. That’s what this white coat represents, and that is the responsibility that comes with it.”

The Class of 2021 also received a copy of “On Doctoring,” a compilation of poems, fiction and essays edited by John Stone, a physician writer, and USF Health’s Lois Nixon, MPH, PhD, professor in the Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities. The books are provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

To conclude the special evening, the new students recited the Oath of Commitment — a promise they make to the health care profession and their patients.

“This is an important milestone in the journey of becoming a physician,” Reming said. “In some ways it’s celebratory, recognizing that all of the hard work involved in getting to this point has paid off. At the same time, I think it also symbolizes a transition from living life as a regular member of society, to becoming part of the health care profession, which necessitates a higher standard of behavioral expectations, has ethical implications and includes social responsibilities.”

Ameyo Jereen, student from the Class of 2021, is excited to finally wear her white coat.

“This is a celebration of the start of a difficult but rewarding journey in which we will learn intricate details about our bodies, our minds and our society,” said Ameyo Jereen, student from the Class of 2021, who wants to go into neuroscience. “I am very excited and honored to partake in this ceremony to mark the start of this wonderful journey.”

Arboleda celebrates this important milestone with her parents and siblings.

Among the Class of 2021 medical students receiving a white coat was Madeline Carney, shown here as a baby held by her mother Nancy Murphy at Murphy’s USF College of Medicine graduation ceremony in 1996. As she was walking off stage with her new white coat, the now young adult Carney shared a hug with Associate Vice President and MCOM Obstetrics and Gynecology Professor Dr. Catherine Lynch. “I haven’t seen you in a while, I delivered you,” Lynch told her.

Story by Vjollca Hysenlika and photos by Eric Younghans, Sandra C. Roa and Frederick Coleman, USF Health Communications and Marketing