MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Ninety students will be welcomed into the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy Class of 2015 during the School’s White Coat Ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 20. The ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. at the Waterfront Place Hotel.
The White Coat Ceremony signifies the students’ entrance into the study of the profession of pharmacy. It symbolizes and reinforces their commitment to develop, deliver and monitor medications in an effort to improve the health and well-being of their patients.
Elements of the ceremony include recitation of the Pledge of Professionalism, presentation and donning of the white coat, and signing of the WVU School of Pharmacy Honor Code.
Speakers at the ceremony will include Patricia Chase, Ph.D., dean of the WVU School of Pharmacy, and Christopher Colenda, M.D., M.P.H., chancellor for Health Sciences.
The keynote speaker is Max D. Ray, Pharm.D., M.S., L.H.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy.
Students in the Class of 2015 will be presented their white coats by School of Pharmacy faculty members Peter Gannett, Ph.D., professor and interim chair, Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences; Gretchen Kreckel Garofoli, Pharm.D., clinical assistant professor, Department of Clinical Pharmacy; and Yon Rojanasakul, Ph.D., professor, Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The Pledge of Professionalism will be led by the WVU School of Pharmacy Class of 2015 advisor, Ashlee McMillan, Pharm.D., clinical assistant professor, Department of Clinical Pharmacy.
The White Coat Ceremony and laboratory coats for the first-year students are made possible by the generous donations of alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the WVU School of Pharmacy.
