White Coat Ceremony, School of Pharmacy

It wasn't like a graduation. He will graduate in another year. My son is a PharmD student in his third year at the School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Friday night, March 23rd, we witnessed what is known as the White Coat Ceremony.

                                 

All the third year PharmD students received their white coats, a symbolic ceremony to mark their transition from the classroom into pharmacy practice. There were about 120 students in the class of 2008. Our son Steven was among them.

Students were called up to the stage four at a time, in alphabetical order. They stood before the four Pharmacist Professors to the left who ceremoniously and simultaneously slipped the white coats onto the third year students. It was all quite impressive to watch.

We were not only there to lend our support and witness to this personal step in his life, but also in the lives of his friends and their families.

One particular friend that is very special to him and to us is his beautiful girlfriend, Vi (pronounced Vee).                                            

                                                  

Vi's family was also there for the occasion. They had to drive nearly eight hours to get here... we had a mere 30 minute drive.

My husband and I met Vi's family for the first time since we've known her, and we were so delighted by their company. As we sat in Memorial Hall waiting for our grown children to walk out for their presentation, we chatted as though we had known each other for a long time, sharing stories of our kids growing up. So proud we are of them. Vi's brother was there as well. He's going attend VMI in the fall. What a fine young man he already is at 18 years of age.

                               

Last night, we ate dinner at Vi's and Steven's apartment. The fare was a delicious blend of American and Vietnamese cooking. After dinner, while we walked their dog, Daisy, Vi's mom and I talked. We discovered many things about each other that made us laugh. For instance, we share the same birthday, July 25th.

What I found most interesting about Vi's parents were their stories about how they came to our country over thirty years ago. As we sat in the dining room, Kim told me about how her family came to live here, and I nearly cried to hear the story of their flight to freedom many years ago. Perhaps someday I will be given permission to share their story here, but I don't think I can do it today. I am honored just to know them.

      

I didn't know, when my son was a little boy, that someday he would become a pharmacist. It's not like he was planning to do this all of his life. There were other thoughts and dreams as a young boy... baseball player, doctor, jet fighter pilot, race car driver just to name a few. 

However, during the course of his college career, as he looked at his options, considered his strengths, listened to the advice of his professors, and searched his heart for the right path, he found himself applying to Pharmacy School.

He told me once that he wanted to be in a field where he could work with people, doing something to improve their lives. I remember in high school, chemistry was a subject in which he did exceptionally well. Biologywas another. I always loved biology when I was younger, but never thought to pursue it in any manner other than to draw it.    

These thoughts passed through my head as we watched all those young people walk across the stage to receive their white coats last Friday night. Someday they will work behind the pharmacy counters, filling out prescriptions for sick people, for people in pain, people who have been in accidents, or have had surgery.Those who will work in hospitals will see their patients in a more extreme condition. Doctors and patients both will come to trust and rely on them to make sure that the drugs prescribed will be just the right dosage, will not conflict with any other medication they may be taking, and to make sure healing, recovery, and maintenance will occur in a timely manner.

Patients will call them with questions about their meds, and they will need to know if something is safe to take, or if they should call their doctor. Our children, as pharmacists, will be giving medical advice over the phone and over the counter, they will be advising doctors, and making decisions that affect the lives and lifestyles of their patients.

In a world where a majority of us are in our 50's and older, knowing and trusting our pharmacist is as important as knowing and trusting our doctor, our financial advisor, and our priest/pastor. 

                                             

                                   If he were my pharmacist, I would trust him.