HPD Perspectives Magazine Summer/Fall 2019

48 | DR. PALLAVI PATEL COLLEGE OF HEALTH CARE SCIENCES EVENT PERSPECTIVES EVENT Perspectives Respiratory Therapy Students Enjoy Inaugural White Coat Ceremony NSU’s Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy Program held its inaugural White Coat Ceremony on January 8. This event represented a transition for the 19 respiratory therapy students who were starting their second didactic semester with an addition of their first clinical rotation. The ceremony began when I explained to the students the meaning behind the White Coat Cere- mony and the pride they should all feel as they wear their NSU white coats from this day forward. This ritual, which began in medical schools, will now be a part of NSU’s Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy Program every year. The white coat symbolizes compassionate care and the mind- set to treat each patient as an individual and not an illness. All departmental faculty and staff members participated in the event. The ceremony marked the official start of clinical practice and becoming part of a health care clinical team. Students gathered before the ceremony dressed in business attire or their assigned pewter-colored scrubs and waited to hear their names called to receive a white coat in front of their class. As the last student had a white coat placed by a faculty member, the room changed to a vision of bright white, full of promise and expressing the student goal to become the very best future respira- tory therapists they could be. The students’ faces reflected their pride as they looked at their names embroidered on their new white coats. The celebra- tion continued as students enjoyed a catered lunch, as well as individual and group photos taken to remember this special occasion. o First-year B.S. in Respiratory Therapy students Deep Breath BY LISA FARACH, D.H.SC. , R.N., RRT Lisa Farach is chair of the Department of Cardiopulminary Sciences—Palm Beach.