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Physician Assistant Students White Coat Ceremony - 35 Physician Assistant Students Receive White Coats During Official Ceremony for Class of 2023
Release Date: 3/17/2022
On Saturday, January 29, 2022, the Xavier University Physician Assistant Program in partnership with Ochsner Health, held its 2nd annual White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2023.
The event took place on the campus of Xavier University in the University Center and is intended to emphasize for students the importance, from the start of their clinical training, of compassionate patient care in their PA education. Selected from over 177 applicants, the Class of 2023 is a diverse group from eight states across the U.S. The PA clinical students receiving their white coats are in rotations at Ochsner Health at various facility locations and medical specialty disciplines.
“This program is committed to training you, our next generation of physician assistants, to become the healthcare providers that will make a meaningful impact on health care,” said Abdul Khan, MD, Medical Director of the program, who was the keynote speaker at the ceremony. He also reminded students of the quote by Arthur Ashe that “success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”
“At the ceremony, we were able to award a total of $160,000 in scholarship funds to deserving students based on need and merit,” said Varsha Castro Gusman, PA-C, Program Director. The White and Gold Excellence scholarship was awarded to Sharon Lagos and Hydeia Thomas. The Green Excellence scholarship was awarded to Jordan Ahn, Carly Caballero, Loryn Heitzmann, Lela Hill, TinHuy Huynh, Brooke Powell, and Gabrielle Semien.
After receiving their white coats, the 35 students took the PA Professional Oath, as recited by Jill D. Fitzpatrick, PA-C, Director of Clinical Education for the program.
About the PA Program
The Xavier University of Louisiana and Ochsner Health partnered in 2020 for the 28-month master’s degree Physician Assistant (PA) Program. It includes a 12- consecutive month didactic phase and 16 months of clinical training within the Ochsner Health.
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Xavier University of Louisiana Physician Assistant Program for its continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students in May 7, 2022.
For more information on the PA Program, visit https://www.xula.edu/physician-assistant-program/
