Brenau University held its annual white coat ceremony for incoming physical therapy students on Friday, Feb. 15, at the Brenau University Downtown Center.
Dr. Heather Ross gave the welcome speech for the first time as the chair of the Department of Physical Therapy and spoke about what it’s like to be part of a new program. She also touched on what hasn’t changed since the program started in 2015.
“What’s not new about our program is the quality and the character of our students,” Dr. Ross said. “And how we’ve now have four classes of just amazing individuals. We’ve come to expect that and that’s really formed a strong foundation for what we expect to do at Brenau DPT.”
This year was also the first ceremony the department was able to have as a full accredited program and was the first time the ceremony was held in February instead of the usual October. It included speeches from Dr. Bob Cantu and guest speaker Carrie Cunningham, physical therapist at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
The purpose of the white coat ceremony is to welcome future physical therapists as health care professionals.
“I love that we do the ceremony in the first year because it allows us to take pause and celebrate their accomplishment of not just being here but of successfully navigating a big chunk of the first year,” Ross said.
