The Franklin College Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Program held its White Coat Ceremony on Dec. 15, 2022. The college’s cohort of 22 PA students from the class of 2024 received their white coats and recited a medical oath before family and friends inside Custer Theatre in Old Main on the Franklin College campus.
Jasmina Cheeseman, PA-C, MLS, program director and assistant professor of physician assistant studies, provided the welcome and opening remarks for the ceremony. Franklin College Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean Kristin Flora, Ph.D., and Student Class President Amber Dumstorf, PA-S, also addressed the students and their guests.
The ceremony is the halfway mark of the 25-month, full-time program. Gregory Strock, M.D., program medical director and adjunct assistant professor of physician assistant studies, also addressed the guests, explaining the symbolism of the ceremony as a rite of passage welcoming students into healthcare practice by providing a white coat signifying professionalism and humanistic patient care. At Franklin College, it marks the transition from the didactic year to the clinical year and the beginning of clinical rotations.
Locally, two students from Hamilton County received their white coats:
- Megana Bammidi of Carmel. She completed her undergraduate degree at Purdue University.
- Lauren Fowler of Fishers. She completed her undergraduate degree at Indiana University.
The ceremony is the fourth for Franklin College. The program’s fifth cohort of PA students will begin their studies in January 2023.