LHU PA students donned white coats and took their White Coat Pledge, marking their transition into the clinical phase of their training.

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Thirty-nine students in the Lock Haven University Physician Assistant Program donned their white coats for the first time during the White Coat Ceremony on April 30.

Traditionally, the White Coat Ceremony marks the transition that healthcare providers make from classroom science-based education to clinical sciences and patient contact. It serves to remind them of the need for compassion and caring in the healing arts and recognizes the students’ academic accomplishments to date and the trust they have attained from the faculty to being caring for patients in the clinical realm.

In a ceremony intended to celebrate “Humanism in Medicine” the address was delivered by Dr. Paul Wooley, MD, MPH of Penn’s Valley Medical Center. Dr Wooley spoke about the importance of caring for the person and their family during their times of need.
Program Medical Director Dr. Michael R. Greenberg administered the White Coat Pledge: “It is with honor that we don our white coats from this day forth. We pledge by what we hold most sacred to use it not as a shield but as a bridge to reach out to those entrusted to our care. We shall strive with passion and humility to create lasting alliances in health, pursue professional integrity and provide compassionate care for all.”

The White Coat Ceremony had its origins at Columbia University Medical School and is sponsored nationwide at medical colleges and PA programs to promote humanism in medicine.

The mission of the LHU Physician Assistant Program is to educate and train highly-skilled physician assistants who are capable of providing quality health care; have expertise in the health care needs of the medically underserved; are prepared to critically evaluate, and become leaders in bringing about improvement in the medical and social systems that affect the health of underserved populations; and will seek and retain employment as primary care Physician Assistants in medically underserved areas of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Lock Haven University Physician Assistant Program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The program was last reviewed in 2005 and received a six year accreditation cycle. Information regarding PA Program Accreditation and ARC-PA can be found at http://www.arc-pa.org/.