White Coat Ceremony reminds students they’re ‘stepping into a calling’

Elon University’s Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Program celebrated its Class of 2026 in a November program that symbolized a transition from classroom learning to a series of clinical rotations over the next year.

Members of the Elon University Physician Assistant Studies Class of 2026 were urged to embrace humility, teamwork and purpose during a campus ceremony where they received the coats they will wear over the next year in clinical rotations across the region.

Associate Professor Tracey Thurnes delivered a keynote address to members of the class who gathered with family and friends inside Whitley Auditorium for an annual White Coat Ceremony hosted by the School of Health Sciences.

The ceremony on Nov. 21, 2025, was a milestone celebration that bridged the completion of classroom studies with future in-person learning under the supervision of a licensed physician.

Associate Professor Tracey Thurnes delivered the keynote address at the White Coat Ceremony in Whitley Auditorium on Nov. 21, 2025.

Drawing on lessons from a childhood shaped by sports and a career grounded in patient care, Thurnes encouraged students to view the white coat as both a responsibility and a privilege. “It’s the weight of your patients’ trust, the weight of your own expectations, and the weight of every moment that brought you here,” she said. “But that weight also carries privilege: the privilege of being invited into people’s most vulnerable moments.”

Thurnes urged students to approach clinical rotations with confidence tempered by humility, comparing the year ahead to challenging game scenarios in sports competition. Success will depend on collaboration and remaining open to learning.

“Asking for help doesn’t make you less capable. It makes you safe, and it makes you wise,” she said.  ”When you call for a consultation, check in with a nurse or say, ‘I’m not sure, but we’ll figure it out,’ you are modeling what it means to prioritize people over pride.”

The ceremony marked a milestone for the 2026 cohort as students prepare to begin clinical training in hospitals, clinics and community health settings across the region.

In her welcome remarks, Maha Lund, dean of the School of Health Sciences, traced the history of the medical practice white coat to its origins in the 1880s with the advent of aseptic surgery.

“Today, this ceremony marks a formal entry into the medical profession and serves as a reminder of the ideals of honor, compassion, and service,” Lund said. “A white coat represents life, purity, and hope, a symbol of the profession, and the commitment to do no harm. As Hippocrates argued, it calls on us to lead our lives and practice our art in uprightness and honor.”

Assistant Professor Monica Zimmerman and Assistant Professor Anthony Clare presented students with their white coats as part of the ceremony for the Class of 2026.

Elon University’s Physician Assistant Studies program is a 24-month, full-time program that prepares its students to think critically and act skillfully to meet expanding health care needs in local and global communities. Its students learn foundational skills for careers in offices, clinics, hospitals, and other settings where they will examine and treat patients under the supervision of a medical doctor.

The Nov. 21 program included a class appreciation of family and friends by Amiee Littlejohn G’26 and Trevor Minshull G’26, president and vice president, respectively, of the Elon PA Student Society. Minshull delivered personalized notes of gratitude for each of the faculty members in the program, while Littlejohn reminded her classmates that “you are brave. You are deserving. And you are prosperous.”

“You have earned this very moment,” Littlejohn told her classmates. “Congratulations!”