The Physical Therapy Convocation 2016 was held on Friday, July 22 by The Ohio State College of Medicine. This special ceremony serves as a celebration and official welcome for the first-year class. Current second-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students facilitated the event.
At the ceremony, first-year DPT students received their white coats from faculty members. The moment is an important one. Evan Luse, president of the Class of 2018, shared with those in attendance the compelling history of the white coat.
“To emphasize the transition to the more scientific approach to modern medicine, physicians sought to represent themselves as scientists and began to wear the most recognizable symbol of the scientist—the white laboratory coat,” said Luse. “The white coat is, first and foremost, a material symbol of the promise that its wearer has made to each and every patient whom he or she encounters: the promise to heal and to care.”
When the incoming class of elite DPT students took the Hippocratic Oath at the convocation, they formally adopted the promise to heal and to cure. Their accomplishments thus far have propelled them to the highest standard of qualifications. This class of DPT students will wear their white coats with pride over the next three years of school.